Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #713272 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-16
• Binding: Hardcover
• 128 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
It must be practically impossible to pick up Asa Briggs' Go To It! without learning something. Excellent illustrations, informative in themselves, and inset boxes containing interesting snippets give enormous first-glance appeal. Colourful, but not superficial, this study of the part played by home labourers in Britain's war effort aims to deal with "history on the small scale". Taking the standpoint of looking at "individuals and families", it proclaims the war's unsung heroes.

Go To It! reveals that "there was often as much sweat, sometimes as much blood, and even more frequently as many tears, on the Home Front as on the fighting fronts". The role of women--often dirty and dangerous--features prominently, although young men, children and the older generation are not ignored. Ten succinct chapters discuss munitions, food, coal, transport and textiles, describing the part played by a wide variety of activities from music to mining. Although not meant to be "an economic nor a social analysis", Briggs' book, accompanying an Imperial War Museum exhibition, is more than a well-balanced description of ordinary people's experiences, for it indicates how British society has been markedly influenced by a war partly fought at home. Asa Briggs has produced a volume that is both highly palatable and educational. Go To It! is thoughtful and full of interest, delivering some significant and fascinating insights. --Karen Tiley

Synopsis
Two British forces played a part in the Allied victory in the Second World War. The contribution of the army, navy and RAF is well understood and appreciated. Less well known, but of equal significance, are the endeavours of those involved in the war effort at home. Looking back at the twentieth century from the vantage point of the new millennium, Go To It! is the story of the everyday heroes and heroines who, through their determination and commitment, and despite many sacrifices, made victory in Europe possible. Starting with the recruitment and enrolment of these 'civilian soldiers', Go To It! looks at the areas in which their efforts were invaluable: in the factories and on the production lines; in the fields; in the coalmines; and in the dockyards. Special attention is paid to the huge role played by women, the young and old, and those who came from other countries and continents to offer their help. Also considered are the steps that were taken to keep up morale, and the book ends with a look at the changes that accompanied the end of the war. - Published in association with the Imperial War Museum: tie-in with a major new exhibition opening March 1999 and with a new memorial to be unveiled in Coventry cathedral by the Prime Minister - Written by a leading historian and acknowledged expert in the field - Contains over 100 hitherto unseen photographs from the Imperial War Museum's archives

About the Author
Asa Briggs is one of the twentieth century's best-known historians. He has been a Fellow and Provost of Worcester College, Oxford, and in 1976 he was made a life peer. A Fellow of the British Academy, Asa has served on several national committees concerned with education and culture. President of the British Social History Society and of the Victorian Society, his many books on nineteenth- and twentieth-century social and cultural history include The Age of Improvement, A Sociii ial History of England and the five volumes of the definitive history of broadcasting in the United Kingdom.