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One of them shouted 'A Merry Christmas English. We're not shooting tonight.' . . . [then] they stuck up a light. Not to be outdone, so did we. Then up went another. So, we shoved up another. Soon the lines looked like an illuminated fete. Rifleman Leslie Walkington On Christmas Eve 1914, a group of German soldiers laid down their arms, lit lanterns, and started to sing Christmas carols. The British troops in nearby trenches responded by singing songs of their own. The next day, men from both sides met in No Man's Land. They shook hands, took photos and exchanged food and souvenirs. Some even played improvised football games, kicking around empty bully-beef cans and using helmets for goalposts. Both sides also saw the lull in fighting as a chance to bury the bodies of their comrades. In some parts of the front, the truce lasted a few hours. In others, it continued to the New Year. But everywhere, sooner or later, the fighting resumed. Today, the Christmas Truce is seen as a poignant symbol of hope in a war that many people regard as unnecessary and futile. But what was the real story of those remarkable few days?

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Anthony Richards has worked at the Imperial War Museum for more twenty years where is responsible for the document and sound archives. A qualified archivist he has contributed to many publications and media projects based on personal written testimony of the two world wars, including articles for the Telegraph newspaper, the Royal Mail stamp yearbook, and the ITV series The Great War: The People's Story. He is also the author of The Somme: A Visual History, In Their Own Words, and Documents That Changed History. Hew Strachan is the Chichele Professor of the history of war at All Souls College in Oxford. Prior to that, he was a professor of modern history and director of the Scottish Centre for War Studies at the University of Glasgow. A fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Historical Society, he was appointed deputy lieutenant of Tweeddale in 2006. He is the author or editor of many books, including The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War and The First World War, Volume I: To Arms. Read by Simon Vance, Kate Reading, Marisa Calin, Ralph Lister, Antony Ferguson, Henrietta Meire, and Tim Bruce

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