A colorful catalogue of objects that illustrate what everyday life was like in wartime Britain. A lifesaving gas mask. A ration book, essential for the supply of food. A shelter stove that kept a family warm while they huddled in their Anderson shelter. A leaflet dropped by the Luftwaffe that was designed to intimidate Britain’s populace during the threat of invasion. A civilian identity card over-stamped with the swastika eagle from the occupied Channel Islands. A rare, previously unpublished, snapshot of legendary bandleader Glenn Miller playing at a UK air base. A twisted remnant of German V2 rocket that went to space and back before exploding over London, the result of equally twisted military science. Colorful flag bunting that saw the VE celebrations in 1945. These disparate objects and many more together tell the moving and important story of Britain’s home front during the Second World War. The ordinary objects featured in this book, supplemented with facts, figures, dates, stories, and statistics, portray the highs and lows the British people experienced during six years of war—from the deprivations of rationing and the bombing of the Blitz, to the cheery songs, elegant fashions, and “Dig For Victory” spirit.

This book outlines and illustrates the living conditions of German civilians in World War II, and the Nazi state's basic structure. German families suffered the same hardships as British labour conscription, extra civic duties, severe shortages of food and necessities, disrupted transport, homelessness and evacuation, separation from loved ones and, for many, bereavement. However, there were important differences. The dictator for whom many had voted was leading them to ruin; unequalled death and devastation ensued from Allied air raids; and every aspect of life was caged around with repressive decrees that began to replace the true rule of law well before September 1939.

The population of Britain was mobilized to support the war effort on a scale unseen in any other Western democracy – or in Nazi Germany. They endured long working shifts, shortages of food and all other goods, and complete government control of their daily lives. Most men and women were conscripted or volunteered for additional tasks outside their formal working hours. Under the air raids that destroyed the centres of many towns and made about 2 million homeless, more than 60,000 civilians were killed and 86,000 seriously injured. This fascinating illustrated summary of wartime life, and the organizations that served on the Home front, is a striking record of endurance and sacrifice.

Faces of the Home Front presents a fascinating insight into the people, wartime organisations, events, life and work on the British Home Front during the Second World War. This is the story of ordinary people in extraordinary times told through an array of previously unpublished rare photographs, illustrations and ephemera. If you have wondered how Air Raid Wardens, Ambulance crews, Home Guard, Firemen, Special Constables, Women's Voluntary Service and the Women's Land Army were recruited and trained, how they were uniformed and what their duties entailed in wartime were, this is the book for you. Drawing on the authors’ own extensive archives of original photographs, training manuals, documents, decades of research and interviews with those who were there, there are stories of well-known events such as the Blitz on London and many other often lesser known events and incidents around the country, some deeply moving, some harrowing and some that show how the kindness and selfless bravery of people that helped get Britain through its darkest hours. The combination of images and stories vividly bring to life the experiences of people in cities, towns and countryside in wartime as they experienced evacuation, rationing, the black-out and air raids touched the lives of everyone. This volume is a valuable addition to the bookshelf of any family historian, collector, re-enactor.

Faces of the Home Front presents a fascinating insight into the people, wartime organisations, events, life and work on the British Home Front during the Second World War. This is the story of ordinary people in extraordinary times told through an array of previously unpublished rare photographs, illustrations and ephemera. If you have wondered how Air Raid Wardens, Ambulance crews, Home Guard, Firemen, Special Constables, Women's Voluntary Service and the Women's Land Army were recruited and trained, how they were uniformed and what their duties entailed in wartime were, this is the book for you. Drawing on the authors’ own extensive archives of original photographs, training manuals, documents, decades of research and interviews with those who were there, there are stories of well-known events such as the Blitz on London and many other often lesser known events and incidents around the country, some deeply moving, some harrowing and some that show how the kindness and selfless bravery of people that helped get Britain through its darkest hours. The combination of images and stories vividly bring to life the experiences of people in cities, towns and countryside in wartime as they experienced evacuation, rationing, the black-out and air raids touched the lives of everyone. This volume is a valuable addition to the bookshelf of any family historian, collector, re-enactor.

A visual history of this forgotten WWI bombing campaign: “A fantastic book. Remnants of stained glass windows, grocery shop scales . . . and so much more.” —War History Online The First World War ushered in many new and increasingly deadly weapons and strategies—none more so than Germany’s sustained aerial bombing campaign against Britain, which opened an entirely new theatre of war—the Home Front. It was a shocking awakening to twentieth-century warfare for the military and civilians alike. There are still fascinating glimpses of this first air campaign, long overshadowed by the Blitz of World War II—to be found in the streets of British towns and cities. Often unnoticed, each tells its own dramatic tale of death and destruction, or maybe of heroism and narrow escapes. Museums hold tantalizing reminders of the air raids, from complete aircraft that defended the country to relics of great Zeppelins that initially brought terror to the British population but ultimately were doomed to become nothing more than great heaps of burnt and twisted wreckage. This first-time assault from the air both terrified and fascinated citizens—and unexpectedly, a significant trade in air raid souvenirs developed, from postcards of wrecked houses and bomb craters to china models of Zeppelins and their bombs and pieces of Zeppelin wreckage. And among the 100 Objects brought together in this book, there can also be found tales of resilience, humor, and determination—which all have their place in the story of this First Blitz

Uncovers how a material object - the civilian gas mask - can reveal the power and limits of the modern state facing total war.

Although nearly 90% of the population of Great Britain remained civilians throughout the war, or for a large part of it, their story has so far largely gone untold. In contrast with the thousands of books on military operations, barely any have concerned themselves with the individual's experience. The problems of the ordinary family are barely ever mentioned - food rationing, clothes rationing, the black-out and air raids get little space, and everyday shortages almost none at all. This book is an attempt to redress the balance; to tell the civilian's story largely through their own recollections and in their own words.

Hitler's Third Reich is still the focus of numerous articles, books and films: no regime of the twentieth century has prompted such interest or such a body of literature. Collated and presented by one of the world's leading historians of Nazi Germany and illustrated with photographs throughout, this book is an accessible, compelling and often revelatory guide to the Third Reich. Ranging from documents and postcards to weapons and personal effects, these objects include Pervitin, Hitler's Mercedes, Hitler's grooming kit, the Messerschmitt 262, the Luger pistol, the Tiger Tank, Eva Braun's lipstick case, the underpants of Rudolf Hess, and, of course, the Swastika and Mein Kampf.

This is a groundbreaking new study of an overlooked area of Second World War History.