British and Commonwealth War Cemeteries

In 1917 a remarkable organization came into being. Its brief was vastly ambitious: to commemorate the 1,100,00 men of the British Empire who lost their lives in the First World War. The Imperial War Graves Commission was the creation of one man, Sir Fabian Ware, whose energy and determination brought together some of the greatest designers and architects of the early twentieth century. This book looks at the history of war graves for British and Commonwealth servicemen and women, and examines how modern remembrance has been shaped by the work of Ware and his contemporaries after the First World War.

Julie Summers is a biographer and historian. She was born near Liverpool and grew up first on the Wirral and then in Cheshire. She is passionate about writing and loves researching her books, especially when this involves meeting people and finding out about their lives. She lives in Oxford. She is employed by the CWGC to work on its publications, and has written a number of books, including Stranger in the House: Women's Stories of Men Returning from the Second World War (Simon & Schuster, 2008), Remembered: The History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (Merrell Publishing, 2007), The Shackleton Voyages (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2002) and Fearless on Everest: The Quest for Sandy Irvine (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001)