Join Amazon Prime and get unlimited Free One-Day Delivery. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
47 used & new from £1.40
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Nella Last's War: The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife, 49': The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife 49'
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

Nella Last's War: The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife, 49': The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife 49' (Paperback)

by Trustees of the Mass Observation Archives (Author) "Well, we know the worst ..." (more)
4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
Price: £4.50 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £5 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £4.49 (50%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Wednesday, July 15? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
30 new from £2.89 17 used from £1.40
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Paperback (New Ed) Order it used

Frequently Bought Together

Nella Last's War: The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife, 49': The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife 49' + Nella Last's Peace: The Post-War Diaries Of Housewife 49 + Housewife 49 [DVD] [2006]
Price For All Three: £12.97

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Nella Last's Peace: The Post-War Diaries Of Housewife 49

Nella Last's Peace: The Post-War Diaries Of Housewife 49

by Trustees of the Mass Observation Archives
4.4 out of 5 stars (17)  £4.49
Housewife 49 [DVD] [2006]

Housewife 49 [DVD] [2006]

DVD ~ Victoria Wood
4.5 out of 5 stars (11)  £3.98
Can Any Mother Help Me?

Can Any Mother Help Me?

by Jenna Bailey
4.9 out of 5 stars (11)  £4.79
Betty's Wartime Diary 1939-1945

Betty's Wartime Diary 1939-1945

by Betty Armitage
4.0 out of 5 stars (7)  £6.99
Our Longest Days: A people's history of the Second World War

Our Longest Days: A people's history of the Second World War

by Sandra Koa Wing
3.8 out of 5 stars (6)  £5.39
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Profile Books (16 Nov 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 184668000X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1846680007
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,771 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Biography > Historical > 1901 Onwards
    #1 in  Books > Biography > Historical > Britain > 1901 Onwards
    #1 in  Books > Biography > Historical > Britain > Social & Urban History

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Review
"'Next to being a mother, I'd have loved to write books.' Oct 8, 1939 * 'The intimacy and immediacy are extraordinary' Sunday Times * 'Anyone who has the least curiosity about what it was like to live through the Second World War should read this' New Statesman * 'The whole post-war women's movement anticipated and rehearsed by a solitary pioneer on the most unlikely of stages' Guardian"

Simon Garfield
"A classic of wartime literature...highly engaging and very
moving. All Home Front life is here...especially the kitchen sink."


See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
Well, we know the worst. Read the first page
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below
(1)
(1)
(1)
See all 4 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Nella Last's War: The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife, 49': The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife 49'
90% buy the item featured on this page:
Nella Last's War: The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife, 49': The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife 49' 4.8 out of 5 stars (22)
£4.50
Nella Last's Peace: The Post-War Diaries Of Housewife 49
4% buy
Nella Last's Peace: The Post-War Diaries Of Housewife 49 4.4 out of 5 stars (17)
£4.49
Full Hearts and Empty Bellies: A 1920s Childhood from the Forest of Dean to the Streets of London
2% buy
Full Hearts and Empty Bellies: A 1920s Childhood from the Forest of Dean to the Streets of London 4.0 out of 5 stars (10)
£4.89
Housewife 49 [DVD] [2006]
2% buy
Housewife 49 [DVD] [2006] 4.5 out of 5 stars (11)
£3.98
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

22 Reviews
5 star:
 (19)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (22 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
71 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars You saw the TV Drama, now do, PLEASE, read the book!, 24 Jan 2007
By P. Kaye "Third Woman" (Buckinghamshire, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Having seen Victoria Wood's wonderful period drama last year, Father Christmas heard my request and kindly brought me the book.

I have deliberately taken several weeks to read it because I wanted to savour and enjoy it to the full.

We are so lucky that Nella Last decided to join the Mass Observation Project as she had a natural talent for writing about the everyday "nitty gritty" of the war years. Even though most of us will have heard stories from parents and grandparents about life in the war, inevitably they will be dominated by what the men did. This is wartime life on a daily basis as seen through the eyes of a middle-aged woman who happily writes about everything - shopping, cooking, worrying about her sons, her health, her inexhaustible wish to "do something", sleep deprivation, sex (yes, sex!) - it's all there. Obviously the MOP sent out questionnaires from time to time requesting particular information, but Nella uses her diary to chronicle her innermost thoughts with a very heavy emphasis on her marriage, her undying love for her boys and especially "a woman's lot". She could see that when the war was over (assuming that Germany did not win) life would be very different for young women about to embark on marriage. They would not be happy to spend their entire life fitting everything in around their husband's wishes and needs and she was very envious of this.

She does not give many details regarding her life before the Second World War but it is very easy to read between the lines and realise that her bouts of ill health and depression were obviously very strongly linked to a dominent and domineering husband and in-laws.

However, the war is the making of Nella as she demonstrates again and again her various artistic talents, her inexhaustible energy and her undying positive and optimistic spirit - at least when other people are present.

I loved this book so much for its honesty, detail and courage and was so very sad when I reached the end. I bought it as a birthday present for one friend and have lent my copy to another, by the time I get it back I will probably read it again!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars what a wonderful book, 29 Jul 2007
By K. Dwyer "cavegirl" (Lancashire) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Without a doubt this has got to be one of the most wonderful, thought provoking, emotional yet rewarding books I've ever read. There wasn't a single part of this book I didn't like, I wanted to savour every bit of it. Nella Last is someone who I came to greatly admire. She was resourceful, kind, helpful and very sensitive and thoughtful.
She always strived to do the best by her family and look after others - and despite her own nerves, depression and anxiety she did a sterling job. I felt such empathy with her when she described her anxieties, her tears and her down days - even though our experiences are poles and decades apart - nothing really changes in the human psyche.
I loved her vivid descriptions of the food she cooked, how she scrimped and saved and put by and still managed to create all these nourishing meals so that her husband and her sons didn't go hungry. How she found time to do all she did is a mystery, but she did it and it was people like her that kept our country going.
I'm really sorry to have finished the book and not have any more of it to read such was the quality of the writing. I felt as though I knew all the family, and was party to so many secrets.
I can't really find enough superlatives to describe it - a required read for anyone interested in history or anything to do with the Wars. Nella's beautifully honed prose is a delight to read, and something that Victoria Wood also captured beautifully in her reworking of the diary for TV.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars inspirational, 8 Jan 2007
By C. E. Elliott (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
What a truly amazing book, I was transfixed from start to finish. I feel I have actually got to know Nella through the book and would absolutely love to have read more of her diary and it is a tragedy that it was lost. She writes so well with such rich prose and descritions and yet does not seem to think that she has any literary talent at all!

I felt so much for her, she was such a caged bird who longed to see so much more, I would have loved to know if she ever made it to Australia to see Cliff. I was saddened when I read that she had slipped into senility at the end but she was so highly strung in some ways I suppose it was always a danger.

She is an inspiration, a true embodiment of the Blitz spirit and it was through her and others like her that the war was won. She is rarely judgemental and always thinks of the mothers and the boys separated by war.

I can't recommend this book highly enough, it has made me think about things in lots of different ways - ie my place in society at as thirty something woman today and how much the sexual revolution changed things. Brilliant - absolutely brilliant.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Nella last's War
This is a fabulous piece of social commentary. An 'ordinary' person chronicalling her everyday life. Simple but so effective a piece of writing. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Mr. Lionel Marsh

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic story
After watching Housewife 49 I was keen to read the book and I was not disappointed. This is a fantastic read and has so much more detail than the excellent DVD. Read more
Published 1 month ago by D. Cooper

3.0 out of 5 stars Review of Ella Lasts war
We read this at the book group to which I belong and all enjoyed it and brought back vividly a period that we all remembered although we were only small children at the time. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Carol Mackenzie

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiration!
I bought this book because I loved Victoria Wood's 'Housewife, 49', and knew it had to be good. It's not good, it's fabulous.
Nella Last is an inspiring figure. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Donna Wilber

5.0 out of 5 stars Book purchase
A real insight into one woman's war. She certainly "lets it all out". There are times when I could have cheerfully slapped her husband. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. M. Lawrence

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than the TV adaptation
Having read the second book based on her 'mass observation' diaries - Nella Last's Peace - and loved it, I was keen to see if this matched up to Victoria Wood's tv adaptation of... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jenny Stacy

4.0 out of 5 stars Nella's take on war
This is a fascinating book - one woman's acount of what families went through in World War Two. It is the little details that makes it so readable - the trips out they took to... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Ann

5.0 out of 5 stars Nella Last's War
A really good read,I found this book hard to put down.I am nowhere near her age but found I could identify with so much that she wrote about,she wrote so interestingly and openly... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mrs. Marion Evans

4.0 out of 5 stars How It Was For Us
I found this book an interesting, entertaining and sometimes amusing account of how things were in 1940's wartime. Read more
Published 5 months ago by B. Boylan

5.0 out of 5 stars Count your blessings
I write this in late 2008 as the global financial system goes into meltdown and the credit crunch is really biting into our individual pockets. Read more
Published 8 months ago by herladyship

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Feedback

Fun for Everyone

Christmas Gifts
Achieve over 15,000 RPM with our great range of Powerballs.

›Shop the Powerball store

  

Make A Wish

Get what you want with an Amazon.co.uk Wish List Make sure you always get what you want with an Amazon.co.uk Wish List.

›More info on Wish Lists

  

Boys Smell

Lynx Africa Body Spray and After Shave Gift set
But we make sure they smell good...

›Discover male grooming at Amazon.co.uk

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers
The Girl Who Played with Fire
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
4.5 out of 5 stars (75)£3.86
 Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga)
Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga) by Stephenie Meyer
4.1 out of 5 stars (464)£6.49
 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
4.1 out of 5 stars (165)£3.99
 The Host
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
4.2 out of 5 stars (83)£3.86

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates