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Nella Last's war

celia

celia

master brummie
I had to order this book from tamworth libary and had to wait a week for it to arrive but its here and i cant wait to settle down in my bed later and read it.
For those of you not famillar with the title it was telivised a few christmases ago titled house wife 49. Victoria wood played nella last
I loved the program so much i had to hunt the book down so i could read it

As soon as i have finished i will let you know what its like, it shouldnt take me too long lol
 
celia said:
I had to order this book from tamworth libary and had to wait a week for it to arrive but its here and i cant wait to settle down in my bed later and read it.
For those of you not famillar with the title it was telivised a few christmases ago titled house wife 49. Victoria wood played nella last
I loved the program so much i had to hunt the book down so i could read it

As soon as i have finished i will let you know what its like, it shouldnt take me too long lol
Click to expand...

hi celia...ive watched housewife 49 at least 3 times...wonderful programme and so well acted by all that was in it...hope you enjoy the book

lyn
 
Hi Celia thanks for posting about this book on here I have just had the DVD housewife 49 from the library and really enjoyed it. I have got the book on order so I look forward to reading this. This was something I had never heard of before ordinary people writing war diaries that what is so interesting just an ordinary woman going about her day to day life.
 
I am sure you will enjoy it, Celia.

"Nella Last's War" are extracts from the copious submissions this Barrow-in-Furness lady made to the Government's Mass-Observation scheme which operated between 1937 and the early 1950s. Ordinary people from all walks of life were involved and recorded their day-to-day lives for this purpose. According to the Forward in this particular book, the Mass-Observation Archive is held at the University of Sussex. It gives ample scope for researchers and I have at least two other books based on it which make fascinating reading as well: "We Are at War" and "Private Battles", both by Simon Garfield. These last two record extracts from several different diaries, on a daily basis.

Another diary rather like Nella's but not based on the Mass-Observation exercise, has a more Midlands association: "Mrs Milburn's Diaries". This fairly well-to-do lady lived between Coventry and Berkswell and she records her daily thoughts and life almost every day throughout the war, not least the agony of her son having been made a prisoner of war in 1940. Again, well worth reading. Yet another is "Mr. Brown's War" whose author worked for an engineering compny in Ipswich and had a hectic, civilian war like so many others, serving in the ARP and Home Guard at the same time as caring for his family.

Diaries such as these really bring home to one how people lived in unimaginable times. They seem almost totally honest -- all written with the immediacy of events firmly in mind and with none of the advantages of hindsight. Nothing edited later to show themselves in a better light, no idea of how things are going to turn out, no distortions to turn the whole thing into a work of fiction. I love them!

Chris
 
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hi all
currantly at the moment my new history project is the second world war.
i think why im interested in is because my mom remembers the war from her childhood and her dad went off to fight and ended up as a pow in burma.
so i tend to read anything of interest in books and on the web on the subject.
however i find nella last's book very interesting because it brings home how the war was for everyday people on the home front such as bombing, make do and mend, rationing and the general british stiff upper lip.
but now i know there are other books of the like i will be hunting them down at my local libray.
 
Hallo Celie, Its nice to find people who look back to see how their parents generation lived. We older folks seem to think we were better off then than we are now but really it is far from the truth. The world has got smaller in regard to communication. The threat we have now is war, and terrorism is always with us and every day it is on the world news. Like America Britain thought it would never happen to us, but it has and will continue to do so.
Twelve years ago I was told I needed a pace maker and was told to take it easy until it was fitted. I am not the sort to sit down and do nothing so I set about writing " My First 30 Years " and I enjoyed doing it for the family. Little did I know that I would type 32,000 words, all with 2 fingers. The family were very pleased with the outcome. The 30 years were from 1926 to 1956 which covered the difficult years, before, during, and after, the 2nd world war. The older one gets the more you can remember your early years, but also it is hard to remember what you did yesterday. Hope I have not bored you with my ramblings.

Geff
 
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