This book concerns the first weeks of The Great War and the experiences of Calderdale people during that critical time: people at home and people in uniform. A main theme concerns the reservists called away from home and family, and follows the experience of two West Riding regiments - The Duke of Wellington's Regiment and The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry - from Mons to the River Aisne, where movement stopped and trenches began.

And, from Todmorden to Brighouse, how did local people respond in these weeks of crisis? Not for them the comradeship and excitement of meeting up with old friends. Wives and families at home simply had to get on with life at a time of serious dislocation and anxiety. How much did they know of events in France and what was happening to fathers, husbands and sons? Eventually it became clear that this was not like the war in South Africa.