Product Description

The Season of 1939 brought all those 'in Society' to London. The young debutante daughters of the upper classes were presented to the King and Queen to mark their acceptance into the new adult world of their parents. They sparkled their way through a succession of balls and parties and sporting events. The Season brought together influential people not only from Society but also from Government at the various events of the social calendar. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain chaperoned his debutante niece to weekend house parties; Lord Halifax, the Foreign Secretary, lunched with the Headmaster of Eton; Cabinet Ministers encountered foreign Ambassadors at balls in the houses of the great hostesses. As the hot summer drew on, the newspapers filled with ever more ominous reports of the relentless progress towards war. There was nothing to do but wait - and dance. The last seaon of peace was nearly over.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27656 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 255 pages

Review
We have a freelance publicist, Ros Ellis, looking after this wonderful book.Anne has already agreed to write a piece for THE DAILY MAIL on the book which will run in May - dates as soon as we have them confirmed. Ros has done a big mailing to the glossy women's magazinse so expect good review coverage here, TATLER is already confirmed. Plus a big feature in THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY LIFE ETC section on "The season now and then" ran on June 1. Regional press includes THE BRIGHTON ARGUS, BATH CHRONICLE, EASTERN DAILY PRESS, LIVERPOOLDAILY POST, OXFORD TIMES, YORKSHIRE EVENING PRESS. Regional radio includes BBC RADIOS BERKSHIRE, BRISTOL, KENT, LEEDS, MERSEYSIDE, OXFORD, NOTTINGHAM, SOUTHERN COUNTIES, BBC Radio Gloucester, BBC Three Counties Radio Plus an interview on BBC LONDON on Monday 19th May on the VANESSA FELTZ show. To maximise coverage we have set a press date of 19 May. "De Courcy's fascinating narrative switches between domestic concerns, ranging from country-house fare to patent medicines, and the approach of would-be gatecrashers accross the channel." THE INDEPENDENT "A fascinating window on the frivolous social but grave political world of Britain in the Second World War... The illustrations are delig

About the Author
Anne de Courcy is a well-known writer and journalist. In the 1970s she was Woman's Editor on the London Evening News and in the 1980s she was a regular feature-writer for the Evening Standard. She is also a former feature writer and reviewer for the Daily Mail. Her recent books include THE VICEROY'S DAUGHTERS and DEBS AT WAR.

Customer Reviews

An absolute gem of social history
This is a wonderful book, full of fascinating snippets and beautifully written. Land prices, minimum wages, what people ate (and the cost of eating out), how they travelled, how and where they lived, the first weather forecast (no, not in the UK, but Paris!), why clubs for men and women were founded in London... If this sounds like a shopping list, it does the book a serious injustice. It is an enjoyable, leisurely read which weaves in facts and figures where relevant and paints a vivid picture of a time which will never come again.

Fascinating stuff
There are a few editing oversights, at one point leading to unintentionally hilarious results: "Joseph Kennedy and his wife Rose, in a pale green frock embroidered with green crystal beads, received the royal couple".

This is a five-star book for anyone interested in clothes - there is page after page of detail. Frankly, by half-way through, even this nostalgia-addict was beginning to get weary of partying: it's kind of disillusioning to realise that most of the upper-classes did very little else.

The wonderful sections of the book are those which look behind the scenes. The introduction: "What was Great Britain like in 1939?", developed further in chapter one, the sections on the medical profession and, especially, on the life of servants, made one hungry for more.