LETTERS from the First World War written by an Oxford family will be published by Oxford University Press in a new book. Edited by Margaret Bonfiglioli and James Munson, the Slater family letters lay undiscovered for almost 90 years.
They will now feature in Full of Hope and Fear: The Great War Letters of an Oxford Family.
Gilbert Slater, the father of the family, had been head of Ruskin College in Oxford and during the war found work as the first Professor of Indian Economics in Madras.
His wife Violet grew to hate the war and became a pacifist – by the end of the conflict their eldest son Owen was fighting in France.
The letters reflect the increasing impact of the war, the fear of Zeppelin raids, and the death of family friends.
Margaret Bonfiglioli is the daughter of Owen Slater, while James Munson was literary editor of Contemporary Review from 1994 to 2012.
The collection of letters will be published in July by OUP, price £25.
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