Join us for an interview with Lucy Noakes who will be discussing The Peoples Victory. A book all about those who were there to see it.
A brand-new social history of how Briton’s felt about and celebrated VE Day.
On the 80th anniversary of V.E. Day and the end of World War II, Lucy Noakes will be joining us at Ruislip Manor Library, historian of 20th century Britain and an expert on the social and cultural history of the Second World War.
In The People’s Victory, historian Lucy Noakes mines the Mass Observation archive to present a groundbreaking history of how Britons at home celebrated and experienced the end of World War II. Alongside street celebrations and tea parties, we find bonfires and bell ringing, water fights and wagon rides, solitary and shared walks – and copious amounts of alcohol. However, as Noakes also reveals, not everyone felt like celebrating that May: many were still waiting for news of family members who had vanished in the fog of war, whilst thousands of British soldiers were still interned in the Far East.
By centring the voices, feelings and fears of the public at the heart of the People’s War, Noakes also traces the hopes and changing attitudes of a nation in flux, revealing how the camaraderie and selflessness of wartime led to the birth of the welfare state.
Free Event
Booking essential
Ruislip manor Library
