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We are at War: The Diaries of Five Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times
 
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We are at War: The Diaries of Five Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times (Paperback)

by Simon Garfield (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
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We are at War: The Diaries of Five Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times + Our Hidden Lives: The Remarkable Diaries of Postwar Britain + Private Battles: Our Intimate Diaries - How the War Almost Defeated Us
Price For All Three: £16.85

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Product details

  • Paperback: 450 pages
  • Publisher: Ebury Press; New Ed edition (2 Mar 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0091903874
  • ISBN-13: 978-0091903879
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.6 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 29,183 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #70 in  Books > Biography > War & Espionage > World War II
    #70 in  Books > History > World History > World War II 1939-1945 > Biographies & Memoirs

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Product Description

Review

"'Snowdrops have been in flower for weeks. Violets are still waiting to bloom. Broad beans are showing their heads perkily. But I forget. We are at war. The boys in the village are leaving one by one.' Maggie Joy Blunt * 'A lovely book. It will appeal to anyone who appreciates the richness and diversity of human experience' - Tony Benn * 'I haven't read a more engrossing book in years' - John Carey, Sunday Times * 'A quite magical store of voices from another age' - Observer"


Mail on Sunday

"Almost every entry has its poignant or fascinating moments...makes our wartime past seem no more distant than yesterday."
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We are at War: The Diaries of Five Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times
62% buy the item featured on this page:
We are at War: The Diaries of Five Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times 4.5 out of 5 stars (6)
£4.65
Nella Last's War: The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife, 49'
15% buy
Nella Last's War: The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife, 49' 4.8 out of 5 stars (25)
£4.48
Nella Last's Peace: The Post-War Diaries Of Housewife 49
11% buy
Nella Last's Peace: The Post-War Diaries Of Housewife 49 4.4 out of 5 stars (19)
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Our Hidden Lives: The Remarkable Diaries of Postwar Britain
7% buy
Our Hidden Lives: The Remarkable Diaries of Postwar Britain 4.4 out of 5 stars (12)
£5.46
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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A real time-machine!, 28 Nov 2005
By D. C. Gowans (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: We are at War: The Remarkable Diaries of Five Ordinary People (Hardcover)
The unfolding drama of wartime life is captured faithfully in these first-hand accounts. I wonder what would be the reaction of the diarists to know that in sixty years time their submissions to Mass Observation would be printed and made into a book. I suspect they would secretly be quite pleased that their efforts would be enjoyed by future generations - a kind of immortality. I was particularly moved by Christopher Tomlin's honest descriptions of the struggle to keep his family afloat financially while coping with the anxiety and sleeplessness of incipient invasion. A different world indeed.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Enthralling, 30 Dec 2007
I read each person's account seperately, as they were becoming muddled in my mind. I was struck by the differences between four of the diarists and "Eileen Potter". Why was she included I wonder? All the others had fascinating, interesting tales to tell of their ordinary lives. Hers, by comparison was very dull and was also the most incomplete. With the other four I felt I knew them and had a deep interest in how they ended up in life.

Reading the four complete diaries was an engrossing experience. How different these people were to each other and how similar they are to people today. Nothing much changes, does it? I see that there is another book just published and I shall be buying that one, too.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Coping with the Everyday in a Dangerous World, 10 Aug 2008
By Graceann Macleod "Books Fuel My Life" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Continuing the thread begun in Hidden Lives, Simon Garfield offers selections from the Mass-Observation Project diaries of five people caught up in the preparations and then the beginning of the infamous Blitz. The uncertainty, the anger, the fear; it's all here and it leaps off of the pages in a way that keeps you turning them.

Sometimes the diarists are not particularly likeable - you encounter racism and defeatist attitudes at certain points. But that is something that makes this volume particularly interesting. Knowing that these pages are going to be read by others, the diarists are still painfully honest in their fears and their prejudices. Very enlightening, and highly recommended, especially as a companion volume to Hidden Lives.
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