Sex at the Somme

Young boys sent to World War I contended with mud, blood, gore, and death. And though these young men grew up with Victorian values, they often used alcohol and sex to help them cope with the horror. In a new book by historian Joshua Levine, Forgotten Voices of the Somme (which comes out on October 2, 2008), Levine delves into the sex lives of WWI soldiers. After listening to tens of thousands of hours of taped interviews with WWI veterans housed at the Imperial War Museum, Levine gives examples of soldiers' experiences with prostitutes and even the taboo of buggery. For more about the book and a few examples, read this Guardian article.