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We have a freelance publicist, Ros Ellis, looking after this wonderful book.Anne has already agreed to write a piece for THE DAILY MAIL on the book which will run in May - dates as soon as we have them confirmed. Ros has done a big mailing to the glossy women's magazinse so expect good review coverage here, TATLER is already confirmed. Plus a big feature in THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY LIFE ETC section on "The season now and then" ran on June 1. Regional press includes THE BRIGHTON ARGUS, BATH CHRONICLE, EASTERN DAILY PRESS, LIVERPOOLDAILY POST, OXFORD TIMES, YORKSHIRE EVENING PRESS. Regional radio includes BBC RADIOS BERKSHIRE, BRISTOL, KENT, LEEDS, MERSEYSIDE, OXFORD, NOTTINGHAM, SOUTHERN COUNTIES, BBC Radio Gloucester, BBC Three Counties Radio Plus an interview on BBC LONDON on Monday 19th May on the VANESSA FELTZ show. To maximise coverage we have set a press date of 19 May. "De Courcy's fascinating narrative switches between domestic concerns, ranging from country-house fare to patent medicines, and the approach of would-be gatecrashers accross the channel." THE INDEPENDENT "A fascinating window on the frivolous social but grave political world of Britain in the Second World War... The illustrations are delig
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The year opened with a glimmer of hope. Read the first page
Front Cover | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The year opened with a glimmer of hope. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a wonderful book, full of fascinating snippets and beautifully written. Land prices, minimum wages, what people ate (and the cost of eating out), how they travelled, how and where they lived, the first weather forecast (no, not in the UK, but Paris!), why clubs for men and women were founded in London... If this sounds like a shopping list, it does the book a serious injustice. It is an enjoyable, leisurely read which weaves in facts and figures where relevant and paints a vivid picture of a time which will never come again.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
There are a few editing oversights, at one point leading to unintentionally hilarious results: "Joseph Kennedy and his wife Rose, in a pale green frock embroidered with green crystal beads, received the royal couple".
This is a five-star book for anyone interested in clothes - there is page after page of detail. Frankly, by half-way through, even this nostalgia-addict was beginning to get weary of partying: it's kind of disillusioning to realise that most of the upper-classes did very little else.
The wonderful sections of the book are those which look behind the scenes. The introduction: "What was Great Britain like in 1939?", developed further in chapter one, the sections on the medical profession and, especially, on the life of servants, made one hungry for more.
This is a five-star book for anyone interested in clothes - there is page after page of detail. Frankly, by half-way through, even this nostalgia-addict was beginning to get weary of partying: it's kind of disillusioning to realise that most of the upper-classes did very little else.
The wonderful sections of the book are those which look behind the scenes. The introduction: "What was Great Britain like in 1939?", developed further in chapter one, the sections on the medical profession and, especially, on the life of servants, made one hungry for more.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Had expected this book to be more about debutantes and parties and the end of an era in that respect - and it was, in part but it covered much more besides, dealing with all sorts of events in the months leading up to the second world war.
Full of interesting statistics and anecdotes, one of my favourites early on stated 'the rich drove Daimlers, Rolls Royces and the now forgotten Lanchester (it's selling point: at 50 m.p.h. you can knit comfortably)'.
The inclusion of an advert for Elizabeth Arden, fascinated me, it read:
Beauty Marches On
'It's her duty to face the future calm and unruffled. Beauty - like business - must go on. The wise woman in a period of strain and crisis will keep up her regular night and morning routine of Cleansing, Toning and Nourishing - with Elizabeth Arden's famous Essential Preparations - Cleansing Cream, Skin Tonic and Orange Skin Food or Velva Cream - to which her skin owes its freshness, smoothness and delicacy, her features their clear-cut and youthful outline. On this basis her beauty is securely founded. To remain beautiful she regards as an obligation to herself and her friends'.
I was also interested to read about the Duke of York camps founded by the King, when he was Duke of York, and convinced of the importance of breaking down barriers between social classes. At the camps, boys from widely differing backgrounds spent a week together in the open air as his guests. One highlight at a camp in Scotland was walking three miles to Balmoral, where the boys had been asked to tea by the King and Queen. At the last camp however, there were fewer competitive games, instead there were expeditions and outings, which the King usually joined, believing that war was imminent so wanting the camp to have a more informal personal flavour.
An interesting and amusing slice of social history.
Full of interesting statistics and anecdotes, one of my favourites early on stated 'the rich drove Daimlers, Rolls Royces and the now forgotten Lanchester (it's selling point: at 50 m.p.h. you can knit comfortably)'.
The inclusion of an advert for Elizabeth Arden, fascinated me, it read:
Beauty Marches On
'It's her duty to face the future calm and unruffled. Beauty - like business - must go on. The wise woman in a period of strain and crisis will keep up her regular night and morning routine of Cleansing, Toning and Nourishing - with Elizabeth Arden's famous Essential Preparations - Cleansing Cream, Skin Tonic and Orange Skin Food or Velva Cream - to which her skin owes its freshness, smoothness and delicacy, her features their clear-cut and youthful outline. On this basis her beauty is securely founded. To remain beautiful she regards as an obligation to herself and her friends'.
I was also interested to read about the Duke of York camps founded by the King, when he was Duke of York, and convinced of the importance of breaking down barriers between social classes. At the camps, boys from widely differing backgrounds spent a week together in the open air as his guests. One highlight at a camp in Scotland was walking three miles to Balmoral, where the boys had been asked to tea by the King and Queen. At the last camp however, there were fewer competitive games, instead there were expeditions and outings, which the King usually joined, believing that war was imminent so wanting the camp to have a more informal personal flavour.
An interesting and amusing slice of social history.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Dresses, Health, Politics, Tragedy, it has it all!
I've had this book sitting on my book shelf for years, unread. First I saved it for a rainy day, and then I thought it would be a too vain and frivolous book, for my liking. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Luthien Arnatuile
Fascinating
If you want to read all about the glamour of life as a deb than - although there are snippets of it in Anne de Courcy's book - this isnt the book for you. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Brussels customer
An excellent account...
of the "last 'Season'", the spring and summer of 1939. There was a strong sense among all layers of society that war with Germany was inevitable. Read more
Published on 3 May 2010 by Jill Meyer
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