Susan Cohen (2)

I have wavered between three and four stars for this book, but I've come down on the side of four because the book basically does what it sets out to do, which is to pack lots of facts about 1960s Britain into a small book. It does so with chapters on: family; food and drink; shopping and fashion; home and neighbourhood; education and social services; transport; relaxation and entertainment; work; and health.

The facts given are sometimes important and sometimes interesting but relatively show more trivial. So, on the important side, I was surprised to learn that although the contraceptive pill came into use in 1963, by the end of the decade "only one woman in ten had ever taken the pill." And on the more trivial side we learn that Fulham's top footballer Johnny Haynes became the first player to receive a wage of £100 per week in 1962, while by the end of the decade George Best was being paid £5000 per week.

I did, however, notice some factual errors. Kim Philby was employed by MI6, not MI5, while he was secretly working for the Russians. The first James Bond film, Dr No, came out in 1962, not 1963. The TV series "The Saint" began in 1962, not 1966. And when the author says that "... snow fell from the end of December 1963 until March 1964..." I presume that she is actually referring to the "Big Freeze" of December 1962 - March 1963. However, given the amount of information packed into this little book, I suppose that a few errors are bound to creep in.

I also think that if you want a book that gives a FEELING of what it was actually like to live through the sixties in Britain, you would be better off with Alison Pressley's book, "The 1950s and 1960s: The Best of Times". Pressley's book might not contain as much factual information as this one, but it has more humour, lots of amusing anecdotes, and a greater number of interesting illustrations. As someone who was in my late childhood and teens during the sixties, I actually enjoyed Pressley's book more.

As for in-depth analysis, well that is not really what this book is about. But it does make the serious point that not everyone in the 1960s was enjoying affluence and a "Swinging London" lifestyle. For example, Cohen shows that there was a lot of poverty and that there were some areas with an unemployment problem, despite the generally low level of joblessness. She also gives examples of the appalling racism and sexism that were widespread at the time.

The information contained in books like these also needs to be put in the wider economic, social and political context of the times. Firstly, the fifties and sixties were the period of capitalism's long post-war economic boom. We took it for granted that everyone would have a job, that living standards would rise every year, and that we would have free education and health care, paid for by progressive taxation.

Secondly, there was a widespread political mood in the sixties of support for the idea of social justice, and growing opposition to racism, sexism, class inequalities, wars, famines, etc.

Thirdly, in the sixties we really thought we were THE rebel generation, with our music, our fashions and our rejection of old-fashioned attitudes. (Even those of us who lived in small towns in the North of England!) Of course this was largely the arrogance of youth: every generation feels like that to some extent, and our rebellious youth sub-cultures were no real threat to the status quo. But on the positive side, at least it left a lot of us with a healthy disrespect for the powers-that-be.

When the 1970s came along and capitalism reverted to economic crisis and started to take away from ordinary people many of the post-war gains, it's not surprising that some of us, influenced by the three factors above, moved politically to the left. show less

I have now read several historic books published by Pen & Sword and I have always found them to be well written and informative. They may well introduce you to subjects that you may have not previously been familiar with and due to the concise nature of their books (they can normally be read over the course of one or two days) you can quickly gain a basic appreciation of a subject which can then lead you if desired to further reading and research. This book covers those somewhat unsung show more heroes of the medical profession the district nurse who even today undertakes a crucial role in primary healthcare visiting people in their own homes or in residential care homes and providing increasingly complex care for patients and supporting family members. The book traces their beginnings in the Victorian era and the importance in their development of two people in particular, the Liverpool philanthropist William Rathbone VI and Florence Nightingale. Before their intervention home nursing was performed by women who were little more than untrained maids often inebriated as personified by Salrey Gamp from Charles Dickens "Martin Chuzzlwit".

Like other Pen & Sword books there is a wonderful collection of photographs that lend credence to the text. These include photographs of the prevailing appalling social conditions of the time, district nurses treating patients, the mode of transport used and newspaper reproductions including advertisements for the required hats and clothing. There were certainly some interesting facts including until the arrival of the NHS the continual problem of trying to find adequate funding.

Whether you are a health care professional or simply someone like me who has an interest in social history I think you will be informed and educated by this book. show less

Information packed little read about nursing, evacuations, and medical care during WW1. The statistics alone are staggering, and to think of what happened during those times is almost inconceivable.