As promised several weeks ago here is a closer look at my WWII Home Front book collection which is now spread over 3 shelves.
Hope you can read the titles
Some of the books I've had for 20+ years and many have come from charity shops, second hand book sales and boot sales, with some new. Quite a lot are diaries written at the time, a few fiction from the period and a couple of newer fiction and two modern books aimed at children. There are less than a dozen that I've not read at some time and most I will read again when I'm short of library books.
I looked at the old blog because back in 2015 I photographed the bookshelves at the smallholding and I had a similar number but some different WWII books to what I have now, some that weren't particularly interesting have been weeded out in the house moves and others have been added, the photo is HERE.
That's quite a collection. I was brought up with many first-hand stories of that time from my mother, for whom being evacuated from Holloway to the Somerset countryside was the big adventure (and trauma) of her childhood years.
ReplyDeleteI've read some books about evacuation - some loved it and others were treated very badly. I've avoided collecting those books!
DeleteThat's a impressive library! You should go and give talks to WI groups, I think they'd be very popular
ReplyDeleteI don't have enough knowledge to do WI talks or the techy stuff with screens etc
DeleteNot sure if you have plans for Saturday Sue, but there is a big book sale at Acton (north west of Sudbury) starting at 10:00. It is in the church and covers all the pews. I went last year, can’t remember the prices but they were very reasonable.
ReplyDeleteOH Great Excitement! I'll see what's on. The Very Big NSPCC book sale in Colchester is the following weekend
DeleteInteresting can’t see any advertising for it on social media etc. it is definitely this Saturday as I keep driving past signs for it.
DeleteI really enjoy looking at your collection of war and home front books. Thanks for showing them.
ReplyDeleteSue
You are very welcome
DeleteImpressive! Glad to see Nella Last there.
ReplyDeleteIt's about time I re-read at least one of her books
DeleteYou have a fine selection of books relating to that period, a time when people had to make the best of what they had.
ReplyDeleteLots of good information about managing on less in these
DeleteWith a collection of books like that on one subject, I would definitely say that you are an interested party. As others have suggested, you could do talks. Although in my experience for most people, doing talks comes under the category of Labour of Love.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I don't know enough to do talks although I don't mind standing up and talking!
DeleteWhat a great collection, I would spend many a happy hour reading those
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
Plenty to read in case of a library book shortage
DeleteHow lovely! I could spend hours looking at those wonderful books. What a superb collection. I am a Brit now in Texas USA and books such as these are very hard to find here.
ReplyDeleteThank you for showing them to us, I love your blog, thank you for that too.
Pam in Texas.x
Such a shame they are difficult to find over there. Postage cost is one of the biggest problems I guess
DeleteI see a Joan Hickson there, and I wonder if it's the wonderful actor who played Miss Marple, or a relative.
ReplyDeleteNot the actress, this one was the wife of a Doctor
DeleteYour collection of books is excellent and very nicely organized on your shelves too. My British Uncle Basil had a nice collection of war time history books and when he died a relative gave away all the books. My son was distraught. He shared the interest with Basil and would have brought the books to his home in the US.
ReplyDeleteI hope to sell my books before I pop my clogs as the children would probably throw them all out!
DeleteWhen my daughter came over, she brought with her two of the 'Harriet' books, by Joyce Dennys. (Harriet Sees it Through is autographed, a pleasant discovery!) I am half way through the second book, but what I find hugely courageous about these books is that they were written as columns initially, as the war was going on. What a brave thing, to look for (and find) a way to infuse humor into such a frightening and uncertain time. The fact that the columns were so popular during such a time really demonstrates the tenacity of a people.
ReplyDeleteSeveral of my diaries were written at the time too - so interesting to read
DeleteThat’s a lot of books on one subject, I wonder what sparked your interest? My mum was an evacuee and often regaled us with tales from a Shropshire dairy farm where she stayed with relatives from 1940-45. She was also evacuated during the phoney war in 1939 but came home after a few weeks because it was too awful. Can you imagine a whole school of children being suddenly billeted on strangers. Her parents were both nurses in London and visited the farm frequently, mostly for their sanity probably. My mum was there from the age of 10 to 15, she was born in 1930, and was old enough to be useful in the veg garden, in the dairy and looking after poultry. When she was a grandma my son’s teacher at primary school asked her to come in to talk about her life as an evacuee when the children were learning about WWII. As a nurse who retrained as a teacher in 1970 (how she gained a BEd Hons, main subject sociology, with three children I have no idea) she was a complete natural with the children and continued giving her evacuee talk for years, long after her grandchildren had left for secondary school. Sarah in Sussex
ReplyDeleteBoth my parents lived in Suffolk during he war so no evacuation. I've avoided reading books about people who had a dreadful years as evacuees - too sad. Luckily many enjoyed their time in the country. Well done to your Mother in training as a teacher in her 40's.
DeleteThat looks like a wonderful collection. I imagine they are all very interesting reads.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
What a lovely lot of books! I bet they are interesting to read. I see a couple there I have on my shelves!
ReplyDeletePlenty to read in case of emergency!
DeleteHave you read Jambusters by Julie Summers? All about what the WI were doing during the war years - a lot taken from diaries. Interesting for me as there's a lot of information about my original WI in Shropshire.
ReplyDelete