- Paperback: 128 pages
- Publisher: Faber and Faber (16 April 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0571251099
- ISBN-13: 978-0571251094
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,510,059 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Mass Observation was founded by Tom Harrisson, Charles Madge and Humphrey Jennings in 1937. Its purpose was to create 'an anthropology of ourselves' in other words, to study the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. Discounting an initial pamphlet, this was the tenth book to be published. It appears in Faber Finds as a part of an extensive reissue programme of the original Mass Observation titles.
War Factory was originally published in 1943. It was largely the work of one 'observer', Celia Fremlin, also known as a thriller writer. It records the experiences and attitudes of women war workers in one particular factory just outside Malmesbury, Wiltshire specializing in the making of radar equipment (neither location nor purpose are, of course, revealed in the book).
On publication the book's importance was quickly spotted. The New Statesman described the book as the 'first coherent and serious study' of a wartime industrial community lodged in the middle of the countryside. The Manchester Guardian called it 'a remarkable study' and the Sunday Times 'a fascinating examination'. The Daily Herald having pointed out 'the girls were grossly - and it would seem, indefensibly - overworked went on to say 'What is certain is that those who are responsible for maintaining the rhythm of war production in the fifth year of war will find no adequate solution to war-weariness if they ignore the penetrating human facts which are brought to light in such investigations as are recorded in this important book.'
About the Author
Mass Observation was founded in 1937 by Tom Harrission, Charles Madge and Humphrey Jennings. Its purpose was to create an 'anthropology of ourselves', in other words, to provide a study of the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. In its first period, from 1937 to 1950, it published twenty-two books, many of which are being reissued in Faber Finds. These books constitute a unique social history of the period. Since 1970 the Mass Observation Archive has been at Sussex University. In 1981 the New Mass Observation Project was born. It is run from the Archive under the direction of Dorothy Sheridan. The Archive is a magnificent resource which continues to provide rich material for books. Recent publications have included Nella Last's War, Nella Last's Peace, Our Longest Days (all published by Profile) and three selections of Mass Observation Diaries of the Second World War and just after , edited by Simon Garfield and published by Ebury Press.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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During the 2nd World War, thousands of women were conscripted into factory work. For many, this was a radical change in their lives.
How did they feel about it, and what effects did it have?
Contemporary propoganda films and posters show women rushing eagerly into the service of their country. In this book, Mass-Observation records a rather different state of affairs.
It records the experiences and attitudes of women war workers in one particular factory just outside Malmesbury, Wiltshire specializing in the making of radar equipment (neither location nor purpose are, of course, revealed in the book).
Lack of interest in their jobs - and even in the war - left women few reserves to resist the long hours and tedious work. Evoking the details of their daily lives as they struggle to find time to enjoy themselves and maintain some semblance of a normal life in extraordianry circumstances.
Celia Fremin (well known as a thriller writer) the 'observer' who did the research and wrote the book, has written a new preface for this edition. War Factory was originally published in 1943.
On publication the book's importance was quickly spotted. The New Statesman described the book as the 'first coherent and serious study' of a wartime industrial community lodged in the middle of the countryside.
The Daily Herald having pointed out 'the girls were grossly - and it would seem, indefensibly - overworked went on to say 'What is certain is that those who are responsible for maintaining the rhythm of war production in the fifth year of war will find no adequate solution to war-weariness if they ignore the penetrating human facts which are brought to light in such investigations as are recorded in this important book.'
- - FROM BACK OF BOOK - -
--------------------------------
During the 2nd World War, thousands of women were conscripted into factory work. For many, this was a radical change in their lives.
How did they feel about it, and what effects did it have?
Contemporary propoganda films and posters show women rushing eagerly into the service of their country. In this book, Mass-Observation records a rather different state of affairs.
It records the experiences and attitudes of women war workers in one particular factory just outside Malmesbury, Wiltshire specializing in the making of radar equipment (neither location nor purpose are, of course, revealed in the book).
Lack of interest in their jobs - and even in the war - left women few reserves to resist the long hours and tedious work. Evoking the details of their daily lives as they struggle to find time to enjoy themselves and maintain some semblance of a normal life in extraordianry circumstances.
Celia Fremin (well known as a thriller writer) the 'observer' who did the research and wrote the book, has written a new preface for this edition. War Factory was originally published in 1943.
On publication the book's importance was quickly spotted. The New Statesman described the book as the 'first coherent and serious study' of a wartime industrial community lodged in the middle of the countryside.
The Daily Herald having pointed out 'the girls were grossly - and it would seem, indefensibly - overworked went on to say 'What is certain is that those who are responsible for maintaining the rhythm of war production in the fifth year of war will find no adequate solution to war-weariness if they ignore the penetrating human facts which are brought to light in such investigations as are recorded in this important book.'
- - FROM BACK OF BOOK - -
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