Today I would like to reveal a book that I found especially useful when I was writing up the more recent part of my family history. Angus Calder’s The People’s War: Britain 1939-1945 is an account of life on the Home Front. The content is wide ranging with sections on evacuation, civil defence, the Blitz, the role of the cinema, the War Ag and Bevin Boys amongst many other things. It is a lengthy book with footnotes and a bibliography that take you on to further reading. It was written in the 1960s, so expect the language and socio-political attitudes to be of that time but if anything, this adds to the value of the book. There have been many other accounts of this aspect of the second world war written since this one and there are likely to be more in the next few years but this particular volume remains a comprehensive and important contribution to our understanding of a period that is rapidly disappearing from living memory. It is now very difficult to use the memories of those who were adults during the second world war to recreate the world of the home guard, rationing, munitions workers, farmers and others struggling to cope during this time. Calder makes heavy use of oral testimony to recreate the every-day occurrences and concerns for those at home.

Another short post today – I did warn you! Thanks to all those who have enquired after my health. I feel fine and I should have paid tribute to the wonderful staff who I encountered yesterday – the NHS at its best.