J.B. Priestley famously described the 'three Englands' he saw in the 1930s: Old England; nineteenth-century England and the new, post-war England. Thirties Britain was, indeed, a world of contrasts, ultimately torn between the image of a nation rendered hopeless by the Depression, unemployment and international tensions, and that of a Britain of complacent suburban home-owners with a baby Austin in every garage.Now Juliet Gardiner, acclaimed author of the award-winning 'Wartime', provides a fresh perspective on that restless, uncertain, ambitious decade, bringing the complex experience of thirties Britain alive through newspapers, magazines, memoirs, letters, diaries and interviews.Gardiner captures the essence of a people part-mesmerised by 'modernism' in architecture, art, in the proliferation of 'dream palaces', the insistence on fitness and fresh air, the obsession with speed, the growth and regimentation of leisure, the democratisation of the countryside, the celebration of elegance, glamour and sensation. Yet, at the same time, this was a nation imbued with a pervasive awareness of loss - of Britain's influence in the world, of accepted political, social and cultural signposts and finally, of peace itself.

The Thirties: An Intimate History

Juliet Gardiner

History

HarperCollins, Publishers

`An accomplished and intensely evocative memoir ... A journey of courage and determination ... Joining the Dots ... will become in time an integral part of our understanding of postwar Britain' Daniel Kynaston, Books of the Year, Observer How has Britain changed - politically, economically, socially and culturally - in the postwar era? Both lyrical and personal, social historian Juliet Gardiner's memoir Joining the Dots is the accessible and empowering living history of a mid-twentieth-century woman who grew into a world so different from the one she was born into. The book is also a wider study of class, sexual choice, motherhood and marriage, feminism, family planning and professional ambition. An essential read for anyone interested in gender equality and modern history.

Joining the Dots

Europe

William Collins

Memories of Britain Past

Reader's Digest Association

This book provides an introduction by J. H. Stape, St. Mary's University College, Strawberry Hill.Written in 1910 and first privately published in New York in 1916, Frank Harris' "Oscar Wilde: His Life and Confessions" gained almost instant notoriety. Attacked by critics for its extravagant inventions, vigorously defended by George Bernard Shaw and hauled into court for libel by Wilde's friend and lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, Harris' biography was published in England only in 1938.Famously inaccurate and lavishly self-serving, Harris' study none the less offers a highly evocative portrait of a compelling personality - or rather of two personalities, for Harris never shies from enlarging upon his roles as Wilde's defender, adviser, and sometime friend. Impressionistic, vivid and well-paced, Harris' intimate account of Wilde's rise and fall will fascinate anyone with an interest in a dramatist and poet whose tempestuous, and ultimately tragic, life was his true major work. A serious contender, as one commentator put it, if there were an Olympic gold for lying, Harris provides as near as one gets in biography to a 'page-turner'.

Oscar Wilde: A life in letters, writings and wit

Gill Macmillan Ltd

Published in association with the Imperial War Museum, a lavishly illustrated account of how the Second World War impacted on the lives of children. This book is published to accompany the major exhibition in 2005 to be held at the Imperial War Museum on the lives of children during World War II. It looks at the evacuees who were forced to adjust to separation from family and friends; and those who stayed in the cities to endure the horrors of the Blitz. It describes in words and pictures every aspect of life on the home front for children - through letters, diaries, drawings, posters and photos, plus numerous vivid first hand accounts. The result is a supremely nostalgic and poignant reminder of what the war meant for the innocent children caught up in it.

The Children's War : The Second World War Through the Eyes of the Children of Britain

World

Portrait

Published in association with the Imperial War Museum, to coincide with their major exhibition, and including an introduction by Jilly Cooper. From the First World War to the present day, animals have played a key part in warfare - and many have suffered and died as a result. Juliet Gardiner's book is a moving tribute to their efforts and sacrifice - illustrated with hundreds of evocative photographs and paintings. Many different animals have played a role on the battlefield - horses and mules carrying supplies and munitions; dogs, like Buster in Iraq, seeking out ammo dumps; canaries trained by tunnellers to detect gas; carrier pigeons sending messages, like Gustav who flew back with the first reports of the D-Day landings; camels used in the Arab Revolt in the First World War; and dolphins trained to protect submarines.

The Animals' War

A Yorkshire family experience World War II by living in a semi-detached house in Kent and having a committee of historical experts, a nutritionist and veterans of the Home Front, controlling how they live. They can withdraw foods, requisition their car, and even limit how much bath water they use. The accompanying book is a diary of the family's experience, and also a comprehensive account of the Blitz years in Britain. It includes many firsthand accounts from people around the country. It is a fascinating account of a time in British history when the whole country was involved in the war effort, and people's lives were transformed by the Home Front.

The 1940s house

Humor & Entertainment

Television

Channel Four Books H/B

Juliet Gardiner's critically acclaimed book - the first in a generation to tell the people's story of the Second World War - offers a compelling and comprehensive account of the pervasiveness of war on the Home Front. The book has been commended for its inclusion of many under-described aspects of the Home Front, and alongside familiar stories of food shortages, evacuation and the arrival of the GIs, are stories of Conscientious Objectors, persecuted Italians living in Britain and Lumber Jills working in the New Forest. Drawing on a multitude of sources, many previously unpublished, she tells the story of those six gruelling years in voices from the Orkney Islands to Cornwall, from the Houses of Parliament to the Nottinghamshire mines.

Wartime: Britain 1939-1945. Juliet Gardiner

Review/Headline

"War on the Home Front" takes you through the many facets of wartime Britain: from the Phoney War to the devastation of the Blitz; from the Home Guard and the Land Girls to the invasion of the Channel Islands and from evacuation and rationing to code-breaking and the eventual victory celebrations. With 100 illustrations and 10 removable documents, it offers a unique perspective of the era.

War on the Home Front: Experience Life in Britain During the Second World War

Carlton Publishing Group

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

Books by Juliet Gardiner

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

The Thirties: An Intimate History

Joining the Dots

Memories of Britain Past

Oscar Wilde: A life in letters, writings and wit

The Children's War : The Second World War Through the Eyes of the Children of Britain

The Animals' War

The 1940s house

Wartime: Britain 1939-1945. Juliet Gardiner

War on the Home Front: Experience Life in Britain During the Second World War

War on the Home Front: Experience Life in Britain During the Second World War