Millions Like Us?: British Culture in the Second World War

by Nick Hayes (Editor), Jeff Hill (Editor)

Overview

This collection of essays brings together the latest historical research on cultural production and reception during the Second World War. Its starting point is how this war was presented to, and understood by, contemporaries and how they differentiated it from earlier conflicts. Although this was particularly noticeable in the construction of ideas of inclusiveness and commonality where 'the people' pulled together to secure victory and a socially equitable peace, the essays also seek to explore the diversity of institutional and personal experiences. Essays look at major national institutions and industries such as the recently formed BBC, the culturally diverse and rapidly expanding commercial press, and the British film industry. The collection explores the role of the individual agent, with studies on established writers and composers, and how each related to the collective rationales of wartime.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780853237631
Publisher:	Liverpool University Press
Publication date:	08/24/1999
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.40(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	1660L (what's this?)

About the Author

Nick Hayes is Reader in Urban History at Nottingham Trent University.

Jeff Hill is Emeritus Professor of Historical and Cultural Studies at De Montfort University.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables
Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgements
An 'English War', Wartime Culture and 'Millions Like Us' - Nick Hayes
British Cinema and 'The People's War' - James Chapman
The People's Radio: The BBC and its Audience, 1939-1945 - Siân Nicholas
Was it the Mirror Wot Won it? The Development of the Tabloid Press During the Second World War - Michael Bromley
A More Even Playing Field? Sport During and After the War - Norman Baker
A Time for Hard Writers: The Impact of War on Women Writers - Johanna Alberti
Safe and Sound: New Music in Wartime Britain - Robert Mackay
More Than 'Music-While-You-Eat'? Factory and Hostel Concerts, 'Good Culture' and the Workers - Nick Hayes
'When Work Is Over': Labour, Leisure and Culture in Wartime Britain - Jeff Hill
Not Just a Case of Baths, Canteens and Rehabilitation Centres: The Second World War and the Recreational Provision of the Minders' Welfare Commission in Coalmining Communities - Colin Griffin
'You and I - All of Us Ordinary People': Renegotiating 'Britishness' in Wartime - John Baxendale
Postscript: A War Imagined - Jeff Hill
Index