Men At War: Loving, Lusting, Fighting, Remembering, 1939-1945

In Men at War, Turner looks beyond the often simplistic views of the past, to recognise the men of World War II as creatures of love, fear, hope and desire. From writers, filmmakers, artists and ordinary men, Turner assembles a broad cast of characters to bring the war to life. There are conscientious objectors, a bisexual Commando, a pacifist poet who flew for Bomber Command, a transgender RAF pilot, a soldier who suffered in Japanese POW camps and later in life became an LGBT+ activist, and those who simply did what they could just to survive and return home to a complicated peace.

As the conflict moves beyond living memory and the last veterans leave us, Turner argues that the only way we can really understand the Second World War is to get to grips with the complexity of the lives and identities of those who fought and endured it.