In the early summer of 1914, the headmaster of Brighton College, Canon W. R. Dawson, spoke to the school in chapel. He called on every boy present to stand ready to sacrifice his life in defence of his country. No shot had yet been fired in anger, Austria's Archduke still lived, few anticipated a European war, and yet Brighton's headmaster seemed to sense the approaching clouds of conflict. There were probably 280 boys in the Chapel that day. By November 1918, many of them were dead, some of the total of 149 Old Boys killed in the Great War. Ten of them were still teenagers. This book presents mini biographies of the School's former students killed in the First World War and serves as a fitting tribute to their bravery and fortitude.

Readers of the 1917 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack were advised by the editor, Sydney Pardon: “Its chief feature is a record of the cricketers who have fallen in the War – the Roll of Honour, so far as the national game is concerned.” By the time the conflict was over, Wisden had carried almost 1,800 obituaries. Test players like Colin Blythe were far outnumbered by men with a lesser claim to fame, as schoolboy cricketers were sent out to the battlefields fresh from their playing fields. Amid the carnage and confusion, errors inevitably crept in: names were wrong and there were cases of mistaken identity. Some mistakes have lain buried in Wisden's pages for a century: as this book discloses, three men outlived their obituary by many years. All the obituaries have been updated in Wisden on the Great War with new information about the subjects' lives and deaths, their families and memorials, and ordered by the year of death. There is a listing of the 289 men who had played first-class cricket, while the 89 who did not get an obituary in Wisden are now recognised. The book also lists for the first time the 407 first-class cricketers who were decorated for gallantry, of whom 381 survived. Among the men included is an officer who as a boy was an inspiration for J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, and one whose agonising death on the battlefield is movingly described in Robert Graves' Goodbye to All That. These men now receive proper tribute, along with literary names that are already well-known, such as Rupert Brooke, who headed his school's bowling averages in 1906 and received an obituary in Wisden that mentioned that, at the time of his death, he 'had gained considerable reputation as a poet'. The wartime Wisdens have long been cherished by families whose relatives are commemorated in them, but the originals are scarce and command a high price. Now the lives of the men are properly celebrated, enhanced by many remarkable stories of courage and coincidence. The result is a poignant insight into the cohorts of cricketers who played the ultimate game for their country.

First published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

World War One changed the course of history. And not only on a global scale as borders shifted and battles raged, but on a local level, when sons failed to return home, and whole villages were emptied of their young men. Oxford was no exception. Many of its young scholars left the dreaming spires to become junior officers, with 170 joining the local Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Regiment before the end of 1914. University buildings were turned from places of study into hospitals and cadet training centres. No college was left untouched. An Oxford College at War is the story of one college's experience of the war: Corpus Christi, one of the smallest and oldest Oxford colleges, lost a number of its students. Based on the moving accounts contained in the College Roll of Honour of those who fell in the Great War, this book looks not only at students' deaths, but also at the role of Corpus - as an exemplar Oxford College - in the War, and the wider role played by the University. From those fighting on the front and on the home front, to the aftermath of the War for survivors and those left behind, An Oxford College at War provides an unparalleled insight into the extraordinary bravery and everyday courage of citizens and students alike.

Detailed and comprehensive, the second volume of the Venns' directory, in six parts, includes all known alumni until 1900.