The People's War - Rated 
Our Longest Days is a collection of excerpts from just a handful of the diarists who participated in the Mass Observation Project during the Second World War; a broad mix of housewives, conscientious objectors, students, voluntary service workers, land girls, those with army and air-force backgrounds, young and old; those who had seen the First World War, and those to whom the deprivations and horrors were altogether new. The collection covers the war from beginning to end, and each significant event of those six years is touched on by more than one diarist.
Nella Last's diary was published (and filmed) separately, and this is unsurprising when you read these excerpts next to the others... although regularly domestic in nature, her writing is intimate, honest and covers the gamut of private reactions and public observances throughout the war. That said, Nella's entries in Our Longest Days are sparse, and by no means the highlight... the wise observations of Edie Rutherford are particularly interesting, as is the reporting of Land Girl, Muriel Green whose enthusiasm for her new position provides and upbeat accompaniment to her matter-of-fact take on gender-discrimination and entries which could, if more self-conscious, have been labelled feminist. Meanwhile, the men's excerpts tend towards describing public reaction to the notable events (air raids, ships sunk by either side, political commentary) and maintain the sense, throughout the collection, of the war's progression both at home and overseas.
The horror of the war has been better described elsewhere, but the casual terror and necessary quick adjustment to changes of those in the UK, the opinions, both educated and instinctive of the people who were intimately involved and yet one step removed from the war is a thing of fascination - this is a vital addition to any war literature collection, but is also an important slice of the lives of ordinary people in a different time.
The real "Home Front" - Rated
In the 1930s, an amateur anthropologist (Tom Harrison), a documentary film-maker (Humphrey Jennings) and a journalist (Charles Madge) joined forces to set up an organisation that came to be known as Mass Observation. Running from 1937 until the 1950s it collected the thoughts and aspirations of many ordinary people. The nature of the project was that the invidiuals who took part were self-selected, and so were mostly middle class and reasonably well-educated. Their submissions were in the way of freely written diaries and in responses to specific enquiries.
Our Longest Days picks from this vast archive just 15 people & shows us their reactions to daily life during the Second World War. Whilst this might seem limiting in some ways, the spread (by age, gender, occupation & location) is sufficient to give a broad view, while allowing us to really get to know individuals and watch their views develop and change.
The result is a fascinating insight to the war on "the home front" and the mundane things that mostly concerned people. The "war" itself seems to feature little in the minds of most contributors except insofar as it directly impinges on them and their family. This isn't one for those specifically interested in the war. It's a wonderful piece of social history written by those who lived it. International policy & military strategy take a back seat to themes of family, friendship, class, gender-equality and morality in a changing world. Definitely recommended.
What it was really like in the Second World War - Rated
Mass Observation in World War II recorded the thoughts and feelings of ordinary people. It's not a representative sample as the participants were self-selecting and tended to be from the educated middle class but with a variety of different age groups. There's a massive archive of entries for the Second World War and it's from this that the entries for ''Our Longest Days'' have been selected.
In all just fifteen people provide the selected entries so you get a real feeling for their personal stories - some you'll like but there are some you won't. The short introduction to each chapter shows how the war was progressing, so you can see how the personal entries fit into the wider story.
It could have been dry but the editor (now sadly dead at the age of 28) has used her skills wisely and allowed the individual stories and personalities to emerge. It's not about the big events but about how the war impinged on people's lives - or didn't impinge very much at the beginning. It's interesting too to see how attitudes (to class, to gender) have changed in the last sixty years.
It's a surprisingly enjoyable and enlightening book and not just for those who are interested in the war.
|
