A Museum at War : Snapshots of life at the Natural History Museum during World War One

On 3 August 1914, the eve of the declaration of war, The Times wrote: `The great catastrophe has come upon Europe'. And so it had. Using records and letters from the Museum's archives, Karolyn Shindler chronicles both the impact of the war on museum life and the surprising and significant role its employees played in the war effort.

In autumn 1914, as Europe's military `doomsday machine' creaks into gear, the war effort at the Natural History Museum is about to spring into life. The grounds become an ad hoc military barracks, first aid units are formed and staff from across the institutions of `Albertopolis' are marshalled into the Volunteer Corps for Home Defence (Museum section). During the coming years many Government departments turn to the Museum for its scientific expertise and innovation. The knowledge held withinthe Museum becomes a vital repository for the military, on everything from equine anatomy to moth damage on the airballoons of the Royal Naval Air Service. In A Museum at War, historian and journalist Karolyn Shindler presents a series of compelling snapshots of life at the Museum during the Great War and demonstrates how deeply it affected the people working there. She reveals not only how the four years of war fundamentally altered all aspects of Museum life but also how the Museum itself made an important contribution to Britain's war effort.