Published in London in the early 1920s, The Best 500 Cockney War Stories comprised, in the words of its newspaper publisher "a remembering and retelling of those war days when laughter sometimes saved men's reason."The tone of the collection was, as the above quote suggests, determinedly humorous, reporting the lighter side of the conflict as viewed by its Cockney participants. Even so, the grimness behind what was in reality a brutal and highly mechanized conflict cut through many of the memoirs.The collection of short memoirs, many illustrated by the famed Bert Thomas, is divided into five categories - Action, Lull, Hospital, High Seas and Here and There. Prefaced by an introduction by Sir Ian Hamilton, the British Commander-in-Chief who oversaw the Allies' unhappy campaign in Gallipoli.REVIEWS looks at WWI thorough the eyes of the Cockney Soldiers and sailors serving in the British Armed forces, provides an excellent example of trench humor .Gun Week, June 2011 World War I trench humor with a London Cockney accent makes this book a riveting read rest assured that this book is really funny. But along with smiles and laughs, a reader will be left with a deep respect for these oft irreverent men s underlying determination to not just survive but prevail. Toy Soldier and Model Figure"