A tribute to the WWII contributions made by this northeastern English town from the historian and author of RAF Bomber Command at War 1939-1945. South Shields and its near neighbors such as Jarrow were key communities in the national war effort, despite their relatively small size. Located on the East Coast, South Shields was situated at the key entry to the strategically important River Tyne and was well defended against enemy attack. Huge numbers of South Shields men and women volunteered for wartime service, while many others worked in vital wartime industries. The town had a particularly high number of men serving in the Merchant Navy and the South Shields mariners suffered very heavy casualties. South Shields also had a multi-cultural population with a large number of foreign (or aliens as they were referred to) seamen and an especially large and active Yemeni community. Indeed, South Shields was to become the first town in Britain to have a purpose-built mosque. Although there were tensions amongst the population due to cultural and racial differences, the Yemeni community played a considerable and loyal role in the war effort. The book also looks at the considerable contribution made by the men and women who volunteered for the ARP and Civil Defence Services. The towns of Tyneside, including South Shields, were heavily attacked by the Luftwaffe and the blitzes of 1941 hit the town particularly hard. No member of the community was left untouched by the war, whether they were evacuees, workers, servicemen or just civilians struggling to maintain a home in wartime Britain.

Tynemouth and Wallsend were key communities in the national war effort despite their relatively small size. Located on the key East Coast they played a significant military and civil role in the war. Tynemouth was situated at the key entry to the strategically important River Tyne and was well defended against enemy attack with several forts and other measures in place. The scenic seaside town saw a large military buildup with several different army and naval units rotating through the area to man defenses and to train whilst the local Home Guard unit was voted one of the best in the country and was asked to give a radio broadcast on its methods (despite some comic accidents along the way).Wallsend, a largely urban industrial community, was home to key wartime industries with its shipbuilding yards (including Swan Hunters) building and repairing huge numbers of vessels, both naval and merchant, throughout the war. This made the town a significant target for the Luftwaffe and several determined raids were made which inflicted heavy casualties, especially during 1941.The area also hosted a large number of heavy and light industrial works which made significant contributions to the war effort. The fishermen of the North Shields fishing fleet also played a dangerous role during the war (many, including one of the authors grandfathers served in the Royal Naval Reserve) when supplying fresh fish, already a dangerous task, to a near-starving wartime population was made more dangerous through enemy action.The book also looks at the considerable contribution made by the men and women who volunteered for the ARP and Civil Defence Services. The heavy raids resulted in great loss of life, including the most deadly single attack outside of London when over 100 people were killed when a North Shields shelter took a direct hit in 1941, and the men and women of the emergency services were faced with horrifying scenes (the authors other grandfather was a regular fireman and ambulanceman who had a particularly lucky escape when his fire engine was blown into a shell crater during a raid) which they had to overcome and work through.No member of the community was left untouched by the war whether they were evacuees (the authors father was one of them), workers, servicemen or just civilians struggling to maintain a home in wartime Britain.

The first complete and unexpurgated publication of the diaries of Lord Alanbrooke, who during World War II was Chief of the Imperial General Staff of the British Empire and Churchill's most prominent advisor -- and rival.

Sunderland was a key shipbuilding and repair facility with a long history of providing vessels for the British Merchant Navy. As well as its shipbuilding industry, the town also possessed other important industries such as paint manufacturing and extensive industries connected with shipbuilding and coal mining. The port town, on the banks of the strategically important River Wear, was also a main hub, along with its northerly neighbor the River Tyne, for coal exports, with much of the coal produced in the huge Durham coalfield being dispatched south via the Wear. All of this meant that the town found itself on the front lines of the war effort and marked it as a prime target for the Luftwaffe. The town experienced several heavy air raids, including one which caused a great deal of damage to both housing and key industries, as well as resulting in serious casualties to the civilian population. The considerable disruption and dislocation caused meant that the authorities struggled to provide adequate shelters and to fill the gaps within what were to become vital Air Raid Precautions services. When the bombing came, these volunteers were to make a vital contribution. Sunderland also had a proud tradition of military service and many of her men and women volunteered for service in the armed forces, with many paying the ultimate price in defense of freedom. A large number of Sunderland men served in the Merchant Navy, while the Royal Navy also boasted many Wearsiders. The local Army regiment, the famed Durham Light Infantry, also boasted many Wearsiders and the regiment saw action in almost every theater of the war. For other Wearsiders, the attraction of flight drew them to service in the ranks of the RAF, for some, service in Bomber Command was motivated by a thirst for vengeance after witnessing the bombing of their home town.

Spanning 150 years of South Shields' changing fortunes, A Tyneside Heritage is a pioneering work of interwoven local and family history. After the nineteenth-century boom years of coal exporting and shipbuilding for global markets came the First World War, then the mass unemployment and political turbulence of the 1930s. Luftwaffe bombing in the Second World War was followed by the peacetime challenge of attracting new industrial development. Against this background, four generations of the Chapman family played a leading role in the town and in County Durham as businessmen, soldiers, borough councillors, sportsmen, philanthropists and representatives of royalty.

The hulk of Henry VIII's flagship is raised from the seabed in an operation that captures the mind of the nation. The leader of the Labour party wears an informal coat at the Cenotaph and provokes a national scandal. An elderly lady whose ancient house is scheduled for demolition dismantles it, piece by piece, and moves it across the country... On Living in an Old Country probes such apparently fleeting and disconnected events in order to reveal how history lives on, not just in the specialist knowledge of historians, archaeologists and curators, but as a tangible presence permeating everyday life and shaping our sense of identity. It investigates the rise of 'heritage' as expressed in literature, advertising, and political rhetoric as well as in popular television dramas, conservation campaigns, and urban development schemes. It explores the relations between the idea of an imperilled national identity and the transformation of British society introduced by Margaret Thatcher. This is the book that put 'heritage' on the map, opening one of the defining cultural and political debates of our time, and showing why conservation is a subject of such broad significance in contemporary Britain. This new edition includes an extensive new preface and interview material reflecting on the ongoing debate about the heritage industry which the book helped to kick-start.