Dear Ireland,

Whilst I do some digging for songs of the era, there's an excellent and insightful history I'd recommend by Barbara Tuchman. "The Proud Tower" chronicles the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. She covers not only the political but the social changes that were afoot in Europe and the US that gave birth to this tumultuous century of ours. She was also the author of "The Guns of August", a definitive history of WWI. Both are excellent references for anyone interested in the opening decades of the 20th century.

And now I'll be packing up me old kit bag with a smile, to search my archives for some WWI-era tunes...