A HISTORY of the Black Country during the First World War has been penned by Halesowen author Michael Pearson.

His book, The Black Country in the Great War, paints a picture of life between 1914 and 1918 and how life on the home front changed.

It recounts largely untold stories ranging from riots sparked by food shortages to the Spanish flu epidemic and how the region came to look like one huge munitions factory.

He notes the huge changes in society that resulted, in particular the role of women.

It covers the devastating effect of the Zeppelin raid on the Black Country in 1916 and how, after the Armistice, men returned as heroes to find regular life and work had altered beyond recognition.

The retired police inspector, who wrote his first book in 2006, scoured newspapers of the day for information and shared research with an employee from the Black Country Living Museum.

He also bought postcards and cigarette cards from the war years to add to his illustrations.

The 53-year-old has long been a keen student of Black Country history and edits The Blackcountryman, the quarterly journal of the Black Country Society.

Mr Pearson’s other books include Foul and Suspicious Deaths, Tracing Your Black Country Ancestors and the Little Book of the Black Country.

His latest work is published by Pen and Sword Books, marking the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the war.

Copies have already been snapped up for sale in Sainsbury’s supermarkets.

The paperback is also available on Amazon and can be ordered through the Black Country Society’s website and by emailing editor@blackcountrysociety.co.uk

Mr Pearson is now busy working on a coffee table-style book on the Black Country, which will be out in time for Christmas.