Children of the 1940s: A Social History

History

Hutton, Mike

Europe

Pen and Sword History

Soho has always been a source of fascination. A district quite unlike any other in London, where glamour meets squalor and then often merges. It is different, never mirroring the changes of its more fashionable neighbours. It seduces and destroys in equal measures. The Windmill Theatre opened in 1932 and, after entertaining audiences through thirty-two years of dramatic change in Soho, finally closed its doors in 1964. In this book, the Windmill forms the backdrop against which Mike Hutton explores all the diversity taking place in the surrounding streets of this unique district during a period of social and moral change. There is the influence of the many nationalities living there during the years leading up to the war. Organised crime existing alongside leading West End theatres and restaurants. The arrival of the GIs with money to burn and time on their hands. The black market booms. Want some nylons? How about a gun? No problem. Falling bombs bring terror, but there is still time to party. Then it's all over and, nationally, austerity takes hold, but never quite in Soho. The squeaky clean Windmill girls are joined by models baring all in the burgeoning strip clubs.  There is money to be made, dodgy policemen to be paid off, and violence simmers away to a background of music.

The Story of Soho: The Windmill Years 1932-1964

Amberley Publishing

• Weaves into the narrative the voices of those who were there• First book to cover this decade in London’s history• Covers evacuation, the Blitz, US forces, rationing, as well as crime, entertainment and the 1948 OlympicsThis was perhaps the most turbulent decade for our iconic capital. It started in fear of what was to come and ended with a sense of huge disappointment that so much sacrifice appeared to have achieved so little. Sandwiched in between live theatre was played out by a cast of millions.Death and danger brought out the best and the very worst of human behavior. Bravery and cowardice were daily bedfellows, as was greed and a sense of duty that would seem alien to us today. Life was a rollercoaster ride. It was a time of massive class divide, yet one where the population joined as one in their distrust of foreigners. This feeling was overcome by some with the arrival of US forces, but was reinforced years later with an influx of West Indian immigrants.Hutton sets out to let the reader really know what it was like living in those heady times by providing as a backdrop stories and memories of those who grew up in wartime London and the bleak years that followed.

1940s London

Amberley

After the trauma of the Blitz and wartime restrictions, London embraced the arrival of a new decade. Austerity was slow to loosen its grip, but the Festival of Britain pointed a tentative way forward. Two years later saw the birth of a new Elizabethan era that was greeted with an almost naïve enthusiasm.This was a time when class still dominated and divided. Despite the introduction of the welfare state, grinding poverty still existed. The rich were also suffering under a barrage of punitive taxation. The artistic community set out to challenge the bounds of perceived decency. As always, London spearheaded change. Twin sets and pearls gave way to a new elegance in women’s fashion, while young men ditched their cloth caps in favour of Teddy Boy suits. A new teenage culture arrived along with coffee bars and rock ’n’ roll.To a background of grisly murders and organised crime, often shrouded in fog, London lurched into the unknown. It was loud, brash and chaotic, yet also sophisticated. A city of opportunity and dangerous temptation, it set the agenda for others to follow. Huge success and degrading humiliation were of passing interest only as the world’s greatest city hurled itself restlessly forward seeking its next distraction.

Life in 1950s London

The most momentous decade in London’s colourful history was one of huge contrasts. The war provided a heady brew of fear, bravery, stoicism, cowardice and crime, set to a background of popular music from Glenn Miller and Vera Lynn. To some, London was vibrant and exciting, but even during the war years it was still divided by class and wealth. While the privileged few enjoyed the relative comfort of the capital’s swankiest hotels, thousands of Londoners sheltered each night on the platforms of the underground.London witnessed the effects of internment, shrugged off the Blitz and was overwhelmed by an invasion of GIs. And even when victory was in sight, the terrifying Buzz Bombs arrived.After the war servicemen returned home as strangers, often to resentful wives and some to unexpected additions to the family. A royal wedding and the 1948 Olympics brought some cheer, but continued grinding austerity caused resentment, and the Labour government introduced radical social legislation. The first influx of West Indian immigrants was welcomed by graffiti demanding ‘Keep Britain White’.With the help of people who lived through these traumatic times, Mike Hutton vividly recreates through stories and memories the atmosphere of a London that is so far removed from the London of today, but that points the way forward to a more prosperous future.

Life in 1940s London

After the trauma of the Blitz and wartime restrictions, London embraced the arrival of a new decade. Austerity was slow to loosen its grip, but the Festival of Britain pointed a tentative way forward. Two years later saw the birth of a new Elizabethan era that was greeted with an almost naïve enthusiasm. This was a time when class still dominated and divided. Despite the introduction of the welfare state, grinding poverty still existed. The rich were also suffering under a barrage of punitive taxation. The artistic community set out to challenge the bounds of perceived decency. As always, London spearheaded change. To a background of grisly murders and organised crime, often shrouded in fog, London lurched into the unknown. It was loud, brash and chaotic, yet also sophisticated. A city of opportunity and dangerous temptation, it set the agenda for others to follow. Huge success and degrading humiliation were of passing interest only as the world’s greatest city hurled itself restlessly forward seeking its next distraction.

The year 1919 has often been ignored in historians' dizzy haste to enter the world of the Roaring Twenties but it was a year of enormous challenges and change. After a brief period of celebration after the Armistice, reality began to sink in. Returning servicemen were resentful at the prospect of unemployment and lack of available housing. Many of the troops had lost their jobs to women on lower rates of pay. Soon there were strikes, with soldiers and tanks on the streets of Britain. This is also the year in which The Troubles began in earnest.The Spanish Flu epidemic continued to take its toll. Even the gilded few were unhappy with rising taxation and a scarcity of servants. Worse, men who had made fortunes from the war had invaded their exclusive clubs. The bars and smoking rooms were full of regional accents and loud suits. Remarkably, something like 40 per cent of all the tax revenue the government raised in the twenties was swallowed up by the war bonds debt. The emerging 'bright young things' embraced sex, drugs and Dixieland jazz. Motor transport was replacing horses, whilst the first crossing of the Atlantic by air showed the way forward. There was entertainment to be had, with sport providing a popular outlet. Long queues formed outside cinemas to see the latest silent films. Theatres and music halls played to packed houses. It was a year of creativity and invention within the arts but also one of nostalgia for old Edwardian certainties. The nation rediscovered a love of shopping in the expanding number of department stores.The year was also a pause for breath after the horrors of war; a time to take stock before rushing into an uncertain future that was rapidly announcing itself.

1919 - A Land Fit for Heroes: Britain at Peace

Full Circle: a story of love, fame and despair

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

The Conrad Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hutton, Mike. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Hutton, Mike

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hutton, Mike. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Children of the 1940s: A Social History

The Story of Soho: The Windmill Years 1932-1964

1940s London

The Story of Soho: The Windmill Years 1932-1964

Life in 1950s London

Life in 1940s London

Life in 1950s London

1919 - A Land Fit for Heroes: Britain at Peace

Full Circle: a story of love, fame and despair