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S'està carregant… London At War (1995)de Philip Ziegler
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Apunta't a LibraryThing per saber si aquest llibre et pot agradar. No hi ha cap discussió a Converses sobre aquesta obra. This book is full of fascinating stories about daily life in London during the Second World War. I found it very interesting to discover how people carried on with their lives while living with the danger of the blitz, evacuation, rationing, the blackout and so many other restrictions. The narrative really conjures up the city: the darkness of the blackout, destruction of buildings by bombing, shelters in the underground, parks and other public spaces being used for trenches and allotments. The book is partly chronological and partly thematic, moving through the war as it progressed, showing how the city itself and people's reactions to living with war changed over the years. It covers many different aspects of life, including the cinema, theatre, music, and much more. What I found most absorbing and fascinating were the many quotations from the personal diaries and letters, not only of public figures and writers such as George Orwell and Elizabeth Bowen, but also of a wide variety of people of all ages, occupations and circumstances, who lived in London at that time. Ziegler has written a very complete social history of London during WW II. Not only is the Blitz covered, but the lead up to the War and how the city's citizens faced the growing threat. His descriptions of the people living in the tubes and other shelters are vivid giving the reader a sense of the fear and discomfort the people lived with daily. While the bombing was horrific, the arrival of the V1's and then the silent V2's really terrified the population. The V1's for the noise & sudden silence when they fell from the sky and V2's for their lack of warning. He also covers the VE celebrations and the defeat of Churchill's Conservative Party in the July election of 1945 which few expected. He explains why the electorate wanted change. He quotes extensively from dairies, newspapers and letters from the period. Knowledge of the British ruling class and the politicians of the period would help with the understanding and enjoyment of this book. However, even without that background, this is a very interesting read. A very readable account of the experiences of mostly ordinary Londoners during the war. The Blitz looms large, of course, but also covered are the run up to war being declared, the phony war, the sense of ennui many Londoners felt when nothing was happening, the Little Blitz of early 1944, the V1 and V2 attacks and the sometimes shaky return to normality. Never less than a fascinating read full of anecdotes and real life observations. Sense ressenyes | afegeix-hi una ressenya
'Superb-If you only buy one book about the Second World War-London at War should be it.' Andrew Roberts, Evening Standard In 1939 London was not merely the greatest city in the world, it was the most tempting and vulnerable target for aerial attack. For six years it was the frontline of the free world's battle against Fascism. It endured the horrors of the Blitz of 1940 and 1941, the V1s, the V2s. Other cities suffered more intensely; no other city was so constantly under attack for so long a time. This is the story of London at war - or, perhaps, of Londoners at war, for Philip Ziegler, known best as a biographer, is above all fascinated by the people who found their lives so suddenly and violently transformed- the querulous, tiresome yet strangely gallant housewife from West Hampstead; the turbulent, left-wing retired schoolmaster from Walthamstow, always having a go at the authorities; the odiously snobbish middleclass lady from Kensington, sneering at the scum who took shelter in the Underground; the typist from Fulham, the plumber from Woolwich. It was their war, quite as much as it was Churchill's or the King's, and this is their history. Through a wealth of interviews and unpublished letters and diaries, as well as innumerable books and newspapers, the author has built up a vivid picture of a population under siege. There were cowards, there were criminals, there were incompetents, but what emerges from these pages is above all a record of astonishing patience, dignity and courage. 'I hope,' Ziegler writes, 'we will never have to endure again what they went through between 1939 and 1945. I hope, if we did, that we would conduct ourselves as well.' No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — S'està carregant… GèneresClassificació Decimal de Dewey (DDC)942.1084History and Geography Europe England and Wales London Historical periods; Modified standard subdvisions of London 1837- 1936-1945LCC (Clas. Bibl. Congrés EUA)ValoracióMitjana:
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