before ANZAC

beyond ARMISTICE

The Central Otago Soldiers of World War One and the home they left behind

Keith Douglas Scott - Addenda Publishing - $39.99

Beyond Armistice is a new approach to the First World War. Using the soldiers’ service files – a valuable source so far largely ignored by historians – Keith Scott presents a key­hole study of the character, background, fortunes and fate of the men from Central Otago who went to war together.

Woven through the research are personal stories of, and en­counters with, war told by the soldiers themselves: shared experiences of fun, endurance, death and, most importantly of all, mateship.
This is also a story of the home from which these soldiers came: before, during and after war. It is a community that is determined yet divided. The author (right) reveals the fear behind the flag waving and the anger that followed the anguish.

The book was launched earlier this month at The Orago Settlers Museum in Dunedin.