Blitz Spirit: 'Fascinating' -Tom Hanks
Becky Brown
Oct 2020 · Hachette UK
4.0star
1 reviewreport
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320
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About this ebook
'An utterly fascinating book - conversations and human behaviours recorded in real time' Tom Hanks
'Fascinating ' Elizabeth Day
'A hugely affecting and absorbing read.' The Bookseller
'Finally, a book that is proving very therapeutic in these difficult times... Full of doubt, fear, anger and rueful comedy, they give the lie to the idea that the Brits maintained a stiff upper lip, but it's immensely consoling to know that our forebears sometimes thought that they were living through the end times but survived to enjoy better and brighter days.' Jonathan Coe, The Times
'With 34 million of us in Tier 3, these Mass Observation diaries have an added fascination: it's impossible to read them without coming across parallels on almost every page, people's characters revealing themselves under wartime restrictions just as they do under Covid ones.' The Times
'A great book - such a good read.' Jeremy Vine
'Brown's book features an eclectic selection from the wartime years and is full of fascinating and sometimes surprising insights.' Mail on Sunday
'Moving and unexpectedly funny, it's these words that may offer comfort.' Woman's Weekly
'What extraordinary voices of Britain living through crisis! A brilliant testament to resilience.' Anne Glenconner
'A stirring and evocative account of life on the home front. Full of surprises that bring a fascinating perspective on the blitz spirit.' - Deborah Cadbury, author of Chocolate Wars and Princes at War
***
Throughout the Second World War hundreds of people kept diaries of their private daily lives as part of a groundbreaking national experiment. They were warehousemen and WRENs, soldiers and farmhands, housewives and journalists, united only by a desire to record the history they were living through.
For decades their words have been held in the Mass-Observation Archive, a time capsule of ordinary voices that might otherwise have been forgotten. These voices tell the human story behind the iconic events of those six years, of the individuals grappling with a world turned upside down. From panic-buying and competitively digging for victory to extraordinary acts of bravery, Blitz Spirit is a remarkable collection of real wartime experiences that represent the best and worst of human nature in the face of adversity.
Resonant, darkly funny and deeply moving, this new collection will reveal what it was like to live through a crisis of unprecedented proportions. A cacophony of hope, cynicism and resilience, Blitz Spirit celebrates ordinary lives - however small - and shines a light on the people we were, and the people we are now.
'Fascinating ' Elizabeth Day
'A hugely affecting and absorbing read.' The Bookseller
'Finally, a book that is proving very therapeutic in these difficult times... Full of doubt, fear, anger and rueful comedy, they give the lie to the idea that the Brits maintained a stiff upper lip, but it's immensely consoling to know that our forebears sometimes thought that they were living through the end times but survived to enjoy better and brighter days.' Jonathan Coe, The Times
'With 34 million of us in Tier 3, these Mass Observation diaries have an added fascination: it's impossible to read them without coming across parallels on almost every page, people's characters revealing themselves under wartime restrictions just as they do under Covid ones.' The Times
'A great book - such a good read.' Jeremy Vine
'Brown's book features an eclectic selection from the wartime years and is full of fascinating and sometimes surprising insights.' Mail on Sunday
'Moving and unexpectedly funny, it's these words that may offer comfort.' Woman's Weekly
'What extraordinary voices of Britain living through crisis! A brilliant testament to resilience.' Anne Glenconner
'A stirring and evocative account of life on the home front. Full of surprises that bring a fascinating perspective on the blitz spirit.' - Deborah Cadbury, author of Chocolate Wars and Princes at War
***
Throughout the Second World War hundreds of people kept diaries of their private daily lives as part of a groundbreaking national experiment. They were warehousemen and WRENs, soldiers and farmhands, housewives and journalists, united only by a desire to record the history they were living through.
For decades their words have been held in the Mass-Observation Archive, a time capsule of ordinary voices that might otherwise have been forgotten. These voices tell the human story behind the iconic events of those six years, of the individuals grappling with a world turned upside down. From panic-buying and competitively digging for victory to extraordinary acts of bravery, Blitz Spirit is a remarkable collection of real wartime experiences that represent the best and worst of human nature in the face of adversity.
Resonant, darkly funny and deeply moving, this new collection will reveal what it was like to live through a crisis of unprecedented proportions. A cacophony of hope, cynicism and resilience, Blitz Spirit celebrates ordinary lives - however small - and shines a light on the people we were, and the people we are now.
Ratings and reviews
4.0
1 review
Grace J. Reviewerlady
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October 8, 2020
This is such an interesting read; it shows the realities of war for those on the home front with the removal of any rose-tinted spectacles! During the second world war, a cross-section of the British people kept diaries of how it affected them personally - their thoughts and opinions as part of what was referred to as Mass Observation. Now author Becky Brown has accessed these, taking excerpts from many different diaries and creating this mesmerising book. I don't often read non-fiction but I have a real interest in domestic fiction during WWII so this one really appealed to me. The ideal which is trotted out publicly is that 'we were all in it together' - but were we? Did rationing ensure that the poor got equal food to the more well-off? How did the woman in the street cope with the daily hardships foisted upon her? These are personal thoughts of many members of the public and it's full of revelations. Organised chronologically, these comments take us right through from just before war was declared to just after peace was announced. Gripping reading, and it's certainly taken the shine off a lot of the propaganda for me. Informative, meaningful, and one which kept me engrossed until the final page. Recommended to everyone who is fascinated by WWII, and well worth four stars.
About the author
Becky Brown is an anthologist, editor and literary agent. Her eclectic work centres around a fascination with forgotten voices and hidden stories. She lives between Glasgow and London.
The Mass-Observation Archive is one of Britain's richest collections of material about everyday life. It contains papers generated by the original Mass-Observation social research organisation (from 1937 to the early 1950s) and newer material collected continuously since 1981. At its core is an unrivalled series of "ordinary" people's diaries, most of which were kept during the Second World War. The Archive is in the care of the University of Sussex.
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