Listening to Britain

From May to September 1940, a period that saw some of the most dramatic events in British history - including the evacuation of Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and the opening stages of the Blitz - the Ministry of Information eavesdropped on the conversations of ordinary people in all parts of the United Kingdom and compiled secret daily reports on the state of popular morale. Edited and introduced by two leading historians of the period, the complete and unabridged sequence of reports provides a unique insight into the mindset of the British as the fate of the nation hung in the balance.'This invaluable book brings us history in real time. With its echo of voices of civilians now on the front line, Listening to Britain provides a matchless insight into the contradictory, confused and complex experience of living through Britain's finest hour' Financial Times'A splendid and absorbing book' London Review of Books'A chronicle of human infirmity and vice. But it also shows that the popular image of a British people united in adversity and displaying...extraordinary powers of patience and fortitude is essentially correct... the historical value of this evidence is enormous' Sunday Telegraph'A gripping and important history book.The work of Addison and Crang takes 1940 Britain to the analysts couch and provides a corrective to the barrage of nonsense that has been written about this time and place. By eschewing modern memories in favour of recorded emotions of the time, theyrestore the objective balance that the finest hour needs so badly' Len Deighton'The sort of book that will have social historians salivating' Literary Review