The Phoney War on the Home Front

E. S. Turner

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Year: 2012
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9780571294749
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

One of the strangest periods in the social history of Britain was that of the Phoney War of 1939-40, when the nation did not know quite whether it was at war or peace. E.S. Turner's marvellous study, first published in 1961, offers a none-too-reverent account of how Britons tried to adjust themselves to the uncertainties of those days.
What was a woman to do if the air-raid siren sounded while she was curling her hair? Were the police required to open fire through jewellers' windows at un-extinguished light bulbs? What was more patriotic - to buy War Bonds or to drink as much whisky as possible? Turner further explores the difficulties posed by blackouts to private detectives and prostitutes; the impact of the moment upon morals, and on fashions; and the bureaucracy's blundering seizure of the nation's spa hotels. The story is carried entertainingly all the way to the Blitz: the darkening moment at which Britain realized there was indeed 'a war on.'

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• ILLUSTRATIONS
• INTRODUCTION
• 1 : LISTENING FOR THE HOOF-BEATS
• 2 : ‘AN AWFUL PLACE TO FIND’
• 3 : ARCHBISHOPS—AND SPIRIT GUIDES
• 4 : A LAW AGAINST IT (I)
• 5 : NO NEED TO SHAVE OFF BEARDS
• 6 : ‘CARRY A WHITE PEKINESE’
• 7 : WORSE THAN GLENCOE?
• 8 : ENTERTAINERS—FRIENDLY AND HOSTILE
• 9 : AROUND THE FANCIES
• 10 : DRINKING FOR VICTORY?
• 11 : BUSINESS UNDER STRESS
• 12 : PLOUGHING AND HUNTING
• 13 : WHAT WOULD CHRIST HAVE DONE?
• 14 : MATTERS OF MORALE
• 15 : WHO’S FOR NETTLE TOAST?
• 16 : THE GREAT AWAKENING
• 17 : ‘OUR CHAPS WILL DEAL WITH THEM’
• 18 : A LAW AGAINST IT (2)
• 19 : ALARM AND DESPONDENCY
• 20 : SAUCEPANS, BUT NOT WEDDING RINGS
• INDEX
• Copyright