A lively history, with photos included, of the English city’s experience during World War II. It had been just over twenty years since “the war to end all wars” was won. And now, the world was once again at war. Veterans of the Great War feared going through the same horrific experience again and, even worse, many knew that this time their children would also be involved in the fighting. What had all the sacrifice been for? Manchester had been badly hit by the Great War with many lives lost, families ripped apart, industries destroyed. The cotton industry never recovered, especially since Japan, China, and India offered cheaper cotton goods. Building and economic recovery had been hindered by the Great Depression. The city was not ready to face another war, nor for the ferocity of the aerial attacks unleashed, nor for the treachery of the Blackshirts. Yet somehow Manchester found the strength to unite against the enemy once more and ensure that Germany would never be victorious. This book chronicles the difficulties, hardships, restrictions, and morale of the city year by year as the war dragged on, and is a timely reminder of how the local community strived to fight the odds that were stacked against them.

This new book is a remarkable and moving account of life on the home front in Manchester during World War II. Based on transcripts of recorded interviews with senior civilians and former members of the Armed Services, this book provides a first-hand narrative of what it was like to live under the shadow of war. The everyday hardships and heroism are recalled: the Blitz, rationing, the Home Guard, evacuees, war work, and the American presence prior to D-Day. Despite all the tragedy and difficulties, the Mancunian spirit shines through with the frequent dash of unquenchable humor. Richly illustrated, and filled with true accounts of local heroism and of the unbreakable spirit of the people of Manchester during these tumultuous years, this book looks at how the city fared during World War II, played her part in victory, and how the day-to-day life of her people was affected.

This new book is a remarkable and moving account of life on the home front in Manchester during the Second World War. Based on transcripts of recorded interviews with senior civilians and former members of the Armed Services, this is an invaluable first-hand record of what it was like to live under the shadow of war. The everyday hardships and heroism are recalled: the Blitz, rationing, the Home Guard, evacuees, war work, and the American presence prior to D-Day. Despite all the tragedy and difficulties, the Mancunian spirit shines through with frequent dashes of unquenchable humour. Richly illustrated, and filled with true narratives of the courage and unbreakable spirit of the people of Manchester during those tumultuous years, this book looks at how the city fared during the Second World War, played her part in victory, and how the day-to-day life of her people was affected.

"This remarkable book should be the standard work for a long time. A true comparative study, it relates the experience of all the main countries (and sometimes others) to a series of key issues that are deftly analyzed and not just described. In addition to the basics--production, consumption, food, finance and organization--the book deals with such famous themes as war as the bringer-of-growth and stimulus-to-technology, and such special questions as the exploitation of occupied areas and economic warfare. Throughout, Professor Milward of Manchester relates economics to strategy in an illuminating way."--Foreign Affairs "An admirable state-of-the-arts report on what we know about how agriculture, population, technology, labor, industrial production, and public finance were affected by the war. He also sets out some highly challenging findings concerning the rationale and effectiveness of economic strategy as applied b the main powers. And he has tentatively advanced some large concepts about the nature of advanced economies as revealed by the manner in which they strove to cope with the war. His approach is broadly comparative: he gives us an account not only of the relative economic performance of individual European powers, but also of the Japanese and American war economies, plus a few observations on the situation in many smaller countries from Australia to Yugoslavia. The book is a mine of information and arresting concepts."--American Historical Review "Milward displays an impressive mastery of his material, both from a historical and economic point of view. He uses quantification effectively, but the book can be read with ease and pleasure by those who are neither trained in nor interested in econometrics. Lucidly written, this superb work deserves a much wider audience than merely specialists."--Journal of Economic Literature "Milward's portrayal of events operates on the proposition that strategic deicions cannot be understood apart from the economic considerations which each leader or government had to take into account. . . . a permanent contribution to our understanding of World War II. Henceforth it will be hard to escape his contention that the big battalions that counted were those on the production line."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Leeds at War 1939-1945 is a comprehensive account of the city's experience of the war, covering in expert detail life on the Home Front set against the background of the wider theaters of war.The narrative of that global conflict is given with a focus on the trials and ordeals that faced the people of Leeds as they cheered their men and women fighters off to war, were bombed and saw their children evacuated to rural areas.Rare insights into the life of war-torn Leeds are included, along with untold stories from the footnotes of that history, from the air-raid shelters to the internment issues. The book incorporates the unique human record of that struggle from memoirs and memories, so that the reader sees the war bottom up from the ordinary people, although the military experiences of Leeds' citizens are not ignored.More controversial topics are also touched upon, such as anti-Semitism, labor troubles and crime, to give a full and fascinating picture of a great city facing profound trials of endurance, courage, and that true Yorkshire grit that has been the hallmark of the city's rise to prominence in Britain.

This book examines attitudes towards German held captive in Britain, drawing on original archival material including newspaper and newsreel content, diaries, sociological surveys and opinion polls, as well as official documentation and the archives of pressure groups and protest movements. Moving beyond conventional assessments of POW treatment which have focused on the development of policy, diplomatic relations, and the experience of the POWs themselves, this study refocuses the debate onto the attitude of the British public towards the standard of treatment of German POWs. In so doing, it reveals that the issue of POW treatment intersected with discussions of state power, human rights, gender relations, civility, and national character.

The second volume of Daniel Todman's account of Great Britain and World War II The second of Daniel Todman's two sweeping volumes on Great Britain and World War II, Britain's War: A New World, 1942-1947, begins with the event Winston Churchill called the "worst disaster" in British military history: the Fall of Singapore in February 1942 to the Japanese. As in the first volume of Todman's epic account of British involvement in World War II ("Total history at its best," according to Jay Winter), he highlights the inter-connectedness of the British experience in this moment and others, focusing on its inhabitants, its defenders, and its wartime leadership. Todman explores the plight of families doomed to spend the war struggling with bombing, rationing, exhausting work and, above all, the absence of their loved ones and the uncertainty of their return. It also documents the full impact of the entrance into the war by the United States, and its ascendant stewardship of the war. Britain's War: A New World, 1942-1947 is a triumph of narrative and research. Todman explains complex issues of strategy and economics clearly while never losing sight of the human consequences--at home and abroad--of the way that Britain fought its war. It is the definitive account of a drama which reshaped Great Britain and the world.