A colorful catalogue of objects that illustrate what everyday life was like in wartime Britain. A lifesaving gas mask. A ration book, essential for the supply of food. A shelter stove that kept a family warm while they huddled in their Anderson shelter. A leaflet dropped by the Luftwaffe that was designed to intimidate Britain’s populace during the threat of invasion. A civilian identity card over-stamped with the swastika eagle from the occupied Channel Islands. A rare, previously unpublished, snapshot of legendary bandleader Glenn Miller playing at a UK air base. A twisted remnant of German V2 rocket that went to space and back before exploding over London, the result of equally twisted military science. Colorful flag bunting that saw the VE celebrations in 1945. These disparate objects and many more together tell the moving and important story of Britain’s home front during the Second World War. The ordinary objects featured in this book, supplemented with facts, figures, dates, stories, and statistics, portray the highs and lows the British people experienced during six years of war—from the deprivations of rationing and the bombing of the Blitz, to the cheery songs, elegant fashions, and “Dig For Victory” spirit.

This book outlines and illustrates the living conditions of German civilians in World War II, and the Nazi state's basic structure. German families suffered the same hardships as British labour conscription, extra civic duties, severe shortages of food and necessities, disrupted transport, homelessness and evacuation, separation from loved ones and, for many, bereavement. However, there were important differences. The dictator for whom many had voted was leading them to ruin; unequalled death and devastation ensued from Allied air raids; and every aspect of life was caged around with repressive decrees that began to replace the true rule of law well before September 1939.

Faces of the Home Front presents a fascinating insight into the people, wartime organisations, events, life and work on the British Home Front during the Second World War. This is the story of ordinary people in extraordinary times told through an array of previously unpublished rare photographs, illustrations and ephemera. If you have wondered how Air Raid Wardens, Ambulance crews, Home Guard, Firemen, Special Constables, Women's Voluntary Service and the Women's Land Army were recruited and trained, how they were uniformed and what their duties entailed in wartime were, this is the book for you. Drawing on the authors’ own extensive archives of original photographs, training manuals, documents, decades of research and interviews with those who were there, there are stories of well-known events such as the Blitz on London and many other often lesser known events and incidents around the country, some deeply moving, some harrowing and some that show how the kindness and selfless bravery of people that helped get Britain through its darkest hours. The combination of images and stories vividly bring to life the experiences of people in cities, towns and countryside in wartime as they experienced evacuation, rationing, the black-out and air raids touched the lives of everyone. This volume is a valuable addition to the bookshelf of any family historian, collector, re-enactor.

Uncovers how a material object - the civilian gas mask - can reveal the power and limits of the modern state facing total war.