1940

The Corner That Held Them

On 14 June 1940, Paris fell to the German Army. The British author Sylvia Townsend Warner wrote in her diary.…

11 months ago

The East Coker Opera House Murders #1940Club

Based on his published letters,1940 was a busy year for T.S.Eliot. He was based in London and working at Faber…

1 year ago

1940 and the #1940Club

Hope I'm not jumping the gun here but the #1940Club starts next week and I've been gearing up and getting…

1 year ago

Our Flag Stays Red – Communists and Snore Detectives at the Savoy

In Our Flag Stays Red (1948) Phil Piratin - the Communist Party MP for Mile End - wrote an account…

1 year ago

What ho! George Orwell and Cancel Culture

Few things in this war have been more morally disgusting than the present hunt after traitors and Quislings. At best…

3 years ago

About Isms He was Never Wrong: George Orwell at the Café Royal

George Orwell had an interesting chance encounter with a blasé conspiracy theorist at the Café Royal in 1940. (See left). The young…

5 years ago

Angela Brazil – Rhymes With Dazzle – at Dunkirk

When intelligence officer Arthur Marshall was on the beach at Dunkirk in 1940 he turned to the work of Angela…

5 years ago

Much Ado About Food: Kate Atkinson and Elizabeth David

Novelists and film makers often struggle to find the right period details to anchor their work in a particular era.…

5 years ago

Much Ado About Deception and Delusion: Kate Atkinson’s Transcription and London 1940

The sandwich was no comfort, it was a pale limp thing a long way from the déjeuner sur l'herbe of her…

5 years ago

The Darkest Hours -1940 and 2018

1940 has been well served by blockbuster movies this past year. Last summer there was Dunkirk as legendary saga and…

6 years ago

Under the Radar: The Hedge Hoppers and the Hardest Day

After early mist the morning of Sunday August 18 1940 was bright with clear skies. It came to be known…

7 years ago

The Land Girl

The land army fights in the fields. It is in the fields of Britain that the most critical battle of…

7 years ago