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Our Hidden Lives: The Everyday Diaries of a Forgotten Britain 1945-1948
Contemporary Review, Feb, 2005
Our Hidden Lives: The Everyday Diaries of a Forgotten Britain 1945-1948. Simon Garfield. Ebury Press. [pounds sterling]19.99. viii + 536 pages. ISBN 0-091-89695-9. Diaries of the war years (1939-1945) have been common enough. Less common are diaries of those hard years after 1945 under a socialist government marked by good intentions and little else.
How did average people cope in the aftermath of war and with continued rationing? The answer comes in the material sent to the Mass-Observation offices after it had asked for people's diaries and records. The material published here begins with VE day in May 1945 and ends with the birth of the Welfare State in July 1948. We have here the records of five diarists who give us 'invaluable records of quiet lives': housewife, accountant, writer, widowed electrical engineer and antiques dealer. Keeping the selections to five gives the book unity and continuity. This collection makes an extremely valuable contribution to our understanding of life in Britain during this period. (J.M.)
COPYRIGHT 2005 Contemporary Review Company Ltd.
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