Nella Last's Peace: The Post-War Diaries of Housewife, 49

While the Allies' victory was a cause for hope and celebration, much privation and anxiety remained. 'The only peace is that there are no active hostilities,' Nella wrote, 'but the corrosion of the war years is eating deeper into civilisation.' In her sensitive and playful account of daily life in the austerity years, written like her diaries for the Mass Observation project, Nella Last captures the thoughts and feelings of post-war Britain.

'If the historians could see clearly enough, this could well be called the age of frustration...after all, for ordinary people, it's the little things that count, whether for good or ill.' Nella Last

This fascinating and unique diary from 1945 to 1948 delves into the private life of housewife, mother, and skillful narrator Nella Last. Nella, fifty-five when the war ends, writes of what ordinary people felt during those years of privation, hope, and the rebuilding of Britain, providing a moving and inspiring account of the years that shaped the society we live in today. Her diary offers a detailed, moving, and humorous narrative of the changing experiences of ordinary people at this time and thoughts on the aftermath of war and whether “peace” really meant peace for everyone.