The book recounts how, under the initiative of the British League of Help, the communities of Great Britain helped in the reconstruction of French villages that had been destroyed during the Great War, financing water towers, village halls, hospitals, schools and houses, as well as providing large quantities of domestic items and agricultural implements. The British League of Help was formed in 1920 as a charitable body with a single purpose: to provide aid to communities in the areas of northern France devastated during the Great War. It pursued its objective by encouraging British cities and towns to become a 'Godmother' to a small town or village that had been destroyed. Some eighty British cities and towns adopted ninety-five French towns and villages, and provided practical help and moral support in the rebuilding of their shattered communities. The scheme was not only a means to provide help to a war-time ally; it was also one of the forms of commemoration that emerged in the years following the Armistice, for most of the French villages were chosen because they had a military connection with the British community. In some cases the association was a short one, while in others close friendships were forged that lasted for many years. The recognition continues today in the plaques that pay tribute to the village's `British Godmother' on water towers, village halls, hospitals, streetnames, schools and houses - scattered across the Great War battlefield areas of northern France. This book not only recreates the story of the adoption movement; through photographs and drawings it shows many of these buildings at the time of their inauguration, and as they are today, for many are still in use.
