- 253 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
This portrait of early-WWII British life "nicely weaves together anecdotes and stories of actual individuals that help illustrate the overall experience" (
The NYMAS Review).
On New Year's Day 1940, the people of Britain looked back on the first four months of the Second World War with a sort of puzzled unease. Wartime life was nothing like what they'd imagined. Unlike in the First World War, there was no fighting on the Western Front. Indeed, there was no Western Front. There had been no major air attacks. Four days into the war German bombers had approached the East Coast, but no bombs were dropped. Everyone carried their gas masks, but there was no poison gas. Petrol was the only commodity rationed, and there was no noticeable shortage of food. Young men called up to join the forces were largely idle. They certainly were not fighting the Germans. In January 1940, life in wartime Britain was simply an inconvenient version of life in peacetime. Even the hitherto strictly enforced blackout regulations were relaxed when it became obvious that, because of them, people were being killed in road accidents.
But on New Year's Eve 1940, Britain was deep in the throes of war. In September the Germans had launched what was to be an eight-month bombing campaign that targeted every one of Britain's major cities. By the end of 1940, German air raids had killed 15,000 civilians. This book tells the story of this dramatic year, as the war in Britain progressed from dull to devastating.
On New Year's Day 1940, the people of Britain looked back on the first four months of the Second World War with a sort of puzzled unease. Wartime life was nothing like what they'd imagined. Unlike in the First World War, there was no fighting on the Western Front. Indeed, there was no Western Front. There had been no major air attacks. Four days into the war German bombers had approached the East Coast, but no bombs were dropped. Everyone carried their gas masks, but there was no poison gas. Petrol was the only commodity rationed, and there was no noticeable shortage of food. Young men called up to join the forces were largely idle. They certainly were not fighting the Germans. In January 1940, life in wartime Britain was simply an inconvenient version of life in peacetime. Even the hitherto strictly enforced blackout regulations were relaxed when it became obvious that, because of them, people were being killed in road accidents.
But on New Year's Eve 1940, Britain was deep in the throes of war. In September the Germans had launched what was to be an eight-month bombing campaign that targeted every one of Britain's major cities. By the end of 1940, German air raids had killed 15,000 civilians. This book tells the story of this dramatic year, as the war in Britain progressed from dull to devastating.
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Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Britain 1940 by Anton Rippon in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & European History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Dedication
- Title
- Copyright
- Table of contents
- Introduction
- Prelude
- Chapter 1 January 1940
- Chapter 2 Make Do and Mend
- Chapter 3 A Matter of Conscience
- Chapter 4 Careless Talk …
- Chapter 5 This is the BBC Forces Programme …
- Chapter 6 The Game Should Be Kept Going
- Chapter 7 Women Doing Men’s Work
- Chapter 8 ‘Let Us Go Forward Together …’
- Chapter 9 A Seething Tide of Humanity
- Chapter 10 Bewilderment in Shipping Circles
- Chapter 11 Look, Duck – and Vanish
- Chapter 12 Frightened and Exiled
- Chapter 13 Any Old Iron – or Aluminium?
- Chapter 14 The Day the Phoney War Ended
- Chapter 15 Their Finest Hour
- Chapter 16 The Sky Was Lit Up by Searchlights
- Chapter 17 ‘The Whole Bloody World’s on Fire …’
- Chapter 18 More Heroes of the Blitz
- Chapter 19 A Filthy Crime
- Chapter 20 Canopied With Uncertainties
- Bibliography
- Plate Section