The Diaries of Nella Last: Writing in War and Peace

by Patricia Malcolmson (Editor), Robert Malcolmson (Editor)

Overview

"Her account records the personal adjustments that trickle into daily life amid sweeping international change."—The Washington Post

This collection brings together into a single volume the best of Nella Last's prolific outpourings, including a great deal of new, unpublished material from the war years. Capturing the everyday trials and horrors of wartime Britain and the nation's transition into peacetime and beyond, Nella's touching and often humorous narrative provides an invaluable historical portrait of what daily life was like for ordinary people in the 1940s and 1950s.

Patricia Malcomson and Robert Malcolmson are social historians. They live in Nelson, British Columbia.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781846685460
Publisher:	IPS - Profile Books
Publication date:	02/05/2013
Pages:	512
Sales rank:	756,774
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 5.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Patricia and Robert Malcolmson are social historians with a special interest in Mass Observation. They have edited several MO Diaries, including Nella Last's Peace and Nella Last in the 1950s. They live in Nelson, British Columbia.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Nella Last's Family, Friends, Neighbours and Associates xiii

Part 1 War, 1939-1943

Chapter 1 Points of View: August 1939-September 1940 3

Chapter 2 Watching, Working, Waiting: September 1940-April 1941 27

Chapter 3 After the Bombs: May-June 1941 49

Chapter 4 Facts of Life: June-September 1941 70

Chapter 5 Past and Present: September-October 1941 86

Chapter 6 Steady On: October-December 1941 104

Chapter 7 Winter's Tales: December 1941-February 1942 120

Chapter 8 Time Passes: February-June 1942 141

Chapter 9 At Home and Abroad: June-September 1942 164

Chapter 10 'End of the Beginning': September 1942-August 1943 183

Part 2 Peace, 1945-1955

Chapter 11 Cheers and Tears: May-September 1945 209

Chapter 12 A Sort of Peace: September 1945-January 1946 237

Chapter 13 Darkness and Light: February-September 1946 263

Chapter 14 Everyday Scenes: November 1946-October 1947 288

Chapter 15 Highs and Lows: October 1947-August 1948 314

Chapter 16 Lots to Talk About: January-February 1950 338

Chapter 17 Pleasures and Perturbations: May-December 1950 368

Chapter 18 Defining Moments: June 1952-August 1955 396

Epilogue 423

Glossary 427

Money And Its Value 430

Editing Nella Last's Diary 432

Mass Observation 435

Acknowledgements 438

List of Illustrations 439

Index 441