In a landmark new BBC history series which started last night, Jeremy Paxman (presenter of BBC's Newsnight and BBC's University Challenge) describes how the First World War transformed the lives of the British people, and helped shape modern Britain.
1. War Comes to Britain
Jeremy Paxman traces the story of the dramatic early stages of the war, from stunned disbelief (with British politicians, in the age of the British stiff upper lip, actually weeping, something which shocked the American ambassador) to the mass recruitment of volunteer soldiers.
Fear of invasion grips the country, Boy Scouts guard bridges, and spies are suspected everywhere. For the first time, British civilians are fired on by enemy ships and bombed from the air. Paxman meets a 105-year-old eyewitness to the shelling of Hartlepool, who describes how she thought the Germans had landed.
Total war has come to Britain.
Watch last night's episode 1: BBC iPlayer - Britain's Great War: War Comes to Britain
1. War Comes to Britain
Jeremy Paxman traces the story of the dramatic early stages of the war, from stunned disbelief (with British politicians, in the age of the British stiff upper lip, actually weeping, something which shocked the American ambassador) to the mass recruitment of volunteer soldiers.
Fear of invasion grips the country, Boy Scouts guard bridges, and spies are suspected everywhere. For the first time, British civilians are fired on by enemy ships and bombed from the air. Paxman meets a 105-year-old eyewitness to the shelling of Hartlepool, who describes how she thought the Germans had landed.
Total war has come to Britain.
Watch last night's episode 1: BBC iPlayer - Britain's Great War: War Comes to Britain
