Children's education in Hertfordshire during and after the First World War is explored in a book published last month.

Hertfordshire Children in War and Peace 1914-1939 looks at the role of children in the county between the outbreak of the war and the beginning of the Second World War.

Topics include the direct effect of military conflict, the evolving situation for children both at school and at work, and the use of children as propagandists.

The book's author, Dr David Parker, said his particular interest in Hertfordshire began while working as a headteacher at a school in Bishop Stortford, where he lived for 20 years and the book combines his interest in the First World War with his knowledge of the county.

He said: "I find the First World War particularly interesting, and I thought, I wonder if the war was the cause of huge social change or not?' That was the brief I set myself. So half the book is on the war, and half on the peace."

With its proximity to London and its extensive countryside, he said Hertfordshire "virtually became an armed camp" during the First World War, and was subject to German raids and bombs intended for London.

"It was quite an exciting time in Hertfordshire during the war, but also an incredibly terrifying and frightening place to be. It teemed with tens of thousands of soldiers, German airships raided the county, children and families were killed and houses were destroyed by the bombing."

But it is the lives of children during this period that Dr Parker, a specialist in the history of education, is particularly interested in.

"With regards to children, something very strange happened," he said. "Children became very valuable because the coming generation were seen as defenders of the British Empire."

The curriculum changed dramatically during this period of unrest, as school children were encouraged to help the war effort.

He added: "Most children didn't go to school and were often enticed to work in the fields. Schools in Hertfordshire became industrial units, and children made things for the army such as bandages, splints, crutches and stretchers."

During this time the government also ordered children to collect soft fruit, namely blackberries, which were used to make jam for the soldiers to satisfy the sweet tooth that is believed to develop when people are under extreme psychological stress.

Children also collected horse chestnuts, which, when crushed, could be made into acetone to aid in the production of cordite; an important component of guns.

Dr Parker believes the patriotic fervour in Hertfordshire schools - which some people saw as a good thing but others thought was too patriotic and too anti-German - was a natural reaction to the social upheaval in the county.

"I don't see it as a negative or positive thing," he said. "The war was a time of terrible lingering fear. But on the other hand, children had never had such an interesting time in school - it was finally relevant to them."

Hertfordshire Children in War and Peace 1914-1939 is published by Hertfordshire Publications at £19.99 and is available from most bookshops in the county.