The Day We Went to War

Oct 11, 2024 12:27 PM

Author:Terry Charman

11:15 am, 3 September 1939. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain confirms the nation's fears by announcing that Britain is at war with Germany. Outbreak is the definitive history of the build-up to, outbreak and first few months of the Second World War. Drawing on the Imperial War Museum's extensive archives, this book features the personal stories of real men and women who lived through the startling events of that year, as well as those who were actively involved in the political negotiations and their aftermath. Featuring numerous photographs and the voices of key players, as well as contributions from well-known figures who were directly affected by the build up to war, Outbreak is a gripping record of an extraordinary year in British history.

Reviews

A compelling new book

—— Telegraph

A compelling new book based on diaries and eye-witness accounts

—— Daily Mail

Weaves together the memories of those who were intimately involved in the politics and planning of war and those so-called ordinary men and women who would also bear its privations and dangers for nearly six years

—— History Today

Gas-proof dog kennels, fines for striking matches, intimate liaisons in the blackout - the Home Front vividly recalled by ordinary Britons

—— Daily Mail

This is an immensely readable book - informative, scholarly, but never dry

—— Richard Ormrod , The Tablet

Close-knit account

—— Duncan Fallowell , Daily Express

Pearce enlivens the narrative with crisp characterisations of the figures on the stage

—— JWM Thompson , The Oldie

Children are history's forgotten people; amidst the sound and fury of battle, as commanders decide the fate of empires, they are never seen. Yet as Nicholas Stargardt reveals in his heart-rending account of children's lives under the Nazis, to ignore them is to leave history half-written. This is an excellent book and it tells a terrible story... As Stargardt so eloquently reminds us, the tragedy is that children were part of the equation and suffered accordingly

—— Trevor Royle , Sunday Herald

'Nicholas Stargardt evokes the individual voices of children under Nazi rule. In re-creating their wartime experiences, he has produced a challenging new historical interpretation of the Second World War

—— History Today

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