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"'I love these diaries. They have the attraction of being stories, but Real stories... Better than any novel.' Margaret Forster; 'A lovely book. It will appeal to... anyone who appreciates the richness and diversity of human experience.' Tony Benn; 'Utterly engrossing, better than any kind of reality TV.' Gavin Esler; 'Funny, vivid, touching, angry, thoughtful - every page is a delight. This is definitely no. 1 on my present list to give to everyone in the coming year.' Jenny Uglow, author of The Lunar Men"
Jenny Uglow
"Funny, vivid, touching, angry, thoughtful – every page is a delight"
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109 of 109 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating insight,
This review is from: Our Hidden Lives: The Remarkable Diaries of Postwar Britain (Paperback)
As a history enthusiast, I'm always very interested to find out about the social dimension which is all too often overlooked in favour of purely political perspectives on the past. This book, I am pleased to say bridges the gap magnificently. Its basis lies in the Mass Observation excercises carried out in the 1930s and 1940s in which volunteers were asked to fill in diaries detailing their daily lives. It was hoped that this would give an insight into the lives of ordinary people to readers in the future. With this in mind, the editor of this book has taken 5 respondents and published extracts from their diaries dating from 1945 to 1951, an often overlooked period in UK history. The Respondents chosen are widely varied, from B. Charles a gay antiques dealer from Edinburgh to Edie Rutherford, a socialist housewife from Derby through to Herbert Brush, a pensioner form South London. The diaries outline all kinds of detail we don't normally associate with history books for example, the best types of household cleaning products and the horrors of continued spam dinners! More importantly they give truly fascinating insight into the issues of the day (Labour Government, continued rationing, the outcome of Nuremburg etc...) with heart and from personal perspectives. I found this aspect intriguing. In retrospect the Attlee government is roundly deified for creatinf the NHS and the Welfare State. However, from these diaries it is obvious that the far sightedness of that adminsitration was not shared by the public at large. Indeed the NHS is looked upon by many as abhorrent! Social attitudes to race at the time are also highlighted. Attitudes to Jews are not at all favourable. Indeed, the husband of Edie Rutherford's one regret was that the "Nuremberg thugs were stopped before they finished the job" Heavy Stuff! However, the book's highlight for me are the entries of Herbert Brush. A slight eccentric, his entries are always amusing and often quite surreal. His Poetry is often hilarious and i found myself giggling at his fruitless attempts to find a book giving prime numbers from one to five million! In all, a fascinating insight into the lives of ordinary folk at a period in history which is often forgotten.
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Non Airbrushed History,
By
This review is from: Our Hidden Lives: The Remarkable Diaries of Postwar Britain (Paperback)
I could not put this fascinating book down . I am sorry that some readers have have found references to anti-semitism & black people offensive ( I too was taken aback st times by some of the diarists comments ) , but as I've said in my title , this is history that has not been airbrushed .
There are many parallells with modern life , such as crime , poor conditions in hospitals , etc . I would strongly recommend this book to all those with an interest in social history & it is as well to remember that times & attitudes do change . That was then then , this is now . Not to read this this book because of offensive comments will result in missing out on an excellent selection of how ordinary people lived & thought then .
39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
All in all a strangely compelling book,
By A Customer
This review is from: Our Hidden Lives: The Remarkable Diaries of Postwar Britain (Paperback)
One of the interesting facts to be found in this book is that the lives of people worsened after the end of the war with further rationing, shortages and restrictions making people fearful of the future.The comments on crime, worsening manners, and young people amongst other things sound little different from the comments we hear today. All in all a strangely compelling book that draws you in and keeps you reading to the end.
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