Yesterdays: Our Finest Hours 1939-1953 v. 2

by Eric Midwinter

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Description

This follow-up to Eric Midwinter's very well received Yesterdays: The Way We Were, which has already been reprinted three times, picks up the story in 1939, opening with Chamberlain's declaration of war on September 3rd. It is a fascinating portrait that shows how the direction and character of everyday life was transformed by the dramatic and terrible events of six long years of war. It also shows how the pattern of life formed during the War did not change abruptly in 1945. Rationing and show more shortages persisted, sometimes more acutely than before, while, because of National Service and the continuing presence of US forces, the country still resembled a uniformed nation at war. At the Festival of Britain in 1951, much of the same spirit was as alive and well as it had been at the Battle of Britain. It was only around 1953 that life began to change - with the consumer boom, the growing use of the car and much more personal freedom. With the New Look, too, femininity returned. The period ended on the ceremonial high note of the coronation of young Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. It is the first grand, shared television event, when, suddenly, half the nation is crowded around five million ti show less

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@8 (1) England (1) WWII Homefront (1)

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Author Information

43+ Works 149 Members
Dr Eric Midwinter, formerly Director of the Centre for Policy on Ageing, Co-founder of the University of the Third Age and lately Visiting Professor of Education at Exeter University

Classifications

Genres
History, Nonfiction, Sociology
DDC/MDS
941.083History & geographyHistory of EuropeBritish IslesHistorical periods of British Isles1837- Period of Victoria and House of Windsor1910-1936 George V
LCC
D759 .M48History of Europe, Asia, Africa and OceaniaHistory (General)World War II (1939-1945)
BISAC

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3
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Languages
English
Media
Paper
ISBNs
1