Our Hidden Lives: The Remarkable Diaries of Post-War Britain

Out of the huge mass of Mass Observation diaries, Simon Garfield felt constrained by the demands of entertainment and readability to pick a very small, self-selected sample of writings from this post-WW2 corpus. If you're going to treat this book as a historical document in any way, it's very important to read the introduction, so you understand how Garfield picked, and why. That said, the diaries are both entertaining and educational, even if sometimes not the picture one wanted to hear. The consistently negative comments about Jews should come as no surprise; had the British man on the street felt differently, we would have noticed it as a much better world then and now. Meanwhile, for an American who thought of the postwar period as a period of returning stability and economic progress, it's eye-opening (how naive an American can sound) to be reminded that some cities were actually bombed during WW2, and real people lived, survived, were changed (or not!) by the experience. In different ways, with different lasting effects: Japan, but also Britain, and quietly mentioned, Germany, as well. When you read history from diaries, you get to see all the narrow-mindedness and petty prejudices which are life's expression for many. But also it can make you question your own narrow experience, and want to know more. Our Hidden Lives succeeded for me where numerous high-school history classes failed -- making me want to learn more about recent history -- a history of fallen empires which lies behind our daily news.

Living in the U.S. in the 21st Century, it is hard to imagine how grim life was for ordinary people in post WWII Britain: rationing of basic staples, wearing the same clothes for years, queues, dramatic political changes. All of these are recorded in the diaries of five Britons. Yes, there are numerous anti-Semitic remarks, and they are most certainly offensive. But the entries reflect the times when people were looking to blame somebody for their difficult lives. It was also the time when Jewish freedom fighters had captured and executed two British soldiers. What is important is that these diaries accurately reflect what those people felt 60 years ago and should be considered to be historical documents.

This book is based on a mass observation, sociological study carried out in England immediately after WW2. It focuses on the dairy entries of 5 random individuals, 2 women and 3 men, all from different backgrounds, walks of life, parts of Country and age groups. The entries offer a fascinating insight into the life and times of Post War England, an often overlooked period in history which saw continued poverty and austerity, political disillusionment and the beginnings of radical social changes and beliefs that the war had begun and which gathered momemtum at this time, forming the foundations of the modern UK. Real, engaging, utterly fascinating and compelling. You love and sometimes loath the participants, B.Charles is quite a hostile, fascist and snobbish antiques dealer. My personal favourite was Maggie Joy Blunt, a modern single girl trying to make her way in the world as a writer. Really fasicinating social history.