Popular Song in the First World War

What did popular song mean to people across the world during the First World War? For the first time, song repertoires and musical industries from countries on both sides in the Great War, as well as from neutral countries, are analysed in one exciting volume.

Experts from around the world, with very different approaches, bring to life the entertainment of a century ago to show the role it played in the lives of our ancestors. The reader will meet the penniless lyricist, the theatre chain owner, the cross-dressing singer, fado composer, stage Scotsman, or rhyming soldier, whether they come from Serbia, Britain, the USA, Germany, France, Portugal, or elsewhere in this fascinating exploration of showbiz before the generalisation of the gramophone.

Singing was a vector for patriotic support for the war, and sometimes for anti-war activism, but it was much more than that. It expressed and constructed debates, anxieties, social identities, and changes in gender roles.

This work, accompanied by many links to online recordings, will allow the reader to glimpse the complex role of popular song in people’s lives during a period of total war. Popular Song in the First World War offers a unique insight into this era's culture and society.