This is the second time I've read this, I first read it when it came out in the late 80's. I decided to reread it as I remembered that I had found it interesting and I also hadn't reviewed it here on librarything. The second time round I still enjoyed the book but with some misgivings. It certainly does cover the issues of love, sex and war in Britain and the United States, as well as Australia and Germany in passing. The detail is very interesting and it is a good easy read. I liked the combination of the personal with the official. But it is not always dispassionate, he never disapproves of any female "advancement", women are always right and any man who may have misgivings is wrong.

One of the themes of the book is that WWII was the precursor to the sexual revolution of the 60's. It is assumed in the book that that's a good thing, it may or it may not be. The real limitation of the book is that it is strictly 1939-45, so it's hard to put the figures he quotes into perspective. He gives 1939 as the base year and goes from there, some charts start in 1938 and others end in 1947 but they are the outliers.

Another criticism I would make is that the actual work women did in factories and worksites was not very specific, as many who works with others can tell you just because two people have the same job titles doesn't mean they do the same job. Recommended but with a critical eye, it's not the full story but it's still a worthy telling of the story of women, men and their Governments interaction during WWII. ( )