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.…

1 year 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…

2 years 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…

2 years 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…

2 years 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…

4 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…

7 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