Synopses & Reviews
What did it mean to be British during the 'People's War'? Professor Rose uses material from newspapers, diaries, novels and letters to examine popular notions of citizenship on the home front. She shows that what we now mean by 'identity politics' was alive and well in the 1940s and that any singular conception of 'Britishness' was extremely fragile.
Review
"This is a useful collection, and the stimulating essays make for good reading."--ISIS
Review
"[Rose's] painstakingly researched and ambitious study uses Britain as a case study tor the powerful, yet ambiguous, nature of national identity formation, especially during times of crisis... a necessary and enlightening addition to the scholarship on World War II, nationalism, and notions of citizenship."-- History
"This exceptionally well-written and solidly researched study deserves a wide audience ... Highly Recommended. All levels and collections."--Choice
Review
"Sonya Rose has approached the national mythology of the Second World War in Britain in a unique and innovative manner. Rose [] makes a valuable contribution...excellent arguments...an important book. It is an accomplished work of cultural and social history that also analyzes political culture." --Canadian Journal of History
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction: National Identity and Citizenship
2. 'Who Killed Cock Robin?': The Wartime Nation and Class
3. 'Good-time' Girls and Quintessential Aliens
4. 'Be Truly Feminine': Contradictory Obligations and Ambivalent Representations
5. Temperate Heroes: Masculinity on the Home Front
6. Geographies of the Nation
7. 'The End is Bound to Come': Race, Empire, and Nation
8. Conclusions and Afterthoughts