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Books > History > World history > From 1900 > Second World War
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Our Uninvited Guests - Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary Times in the Country Houses of Wartime Britain (Paperback)
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Our Uninvited Guests - Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary Times in the Country Houses of Wartime Britain (Paperback)
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List price R296
Loot Price R271
Discovery Miles 2 710
You Save R25 (8%)
Expected to ship within 9 - 17 working days
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'Julie Summers has an amazing instinct for unearthing good stories
and telling quotes.' Craig Brown, The Mail On Sunday 'This is an
enjoyable book, peppered with examples of under-reported wartime
heroism.' Robert Leigh-Pemberton, The Daily Telegraph 'It's hard to
believe that there are still untold stories about Britain and World
War II, but Julie Summers has unearthed a fascinating one that she
tells with great verve and style. All in all, Uninvited Guests is a
sheer delight.' Lynne Olson, author of Citizens of London and Last
Hope Island A remarkable narrative set against the dark days of
World War Two, from one of the country's foremost social
historians. Our Uninvited Guests perfectly captures the spirit of
upheaval at the beginning of the Second World War when thousands of
houses were requisitioned by the government to provide
accommodation for the armed forces, secret services and government
offices as well as vulnerable children, the sick and the elderly,
all of whom needed to be housed safely beyond the reach of Hitler's
Luftwaffe. Julie Summers gives the reader a behind-the-scenes
glimpse of life in some of Britain's greatest country houses that
were occupied by people who would otherwise never have set foot in
such opulent surroundings.Blenheim Palace was colonised by
schoolboys who slept in the Long Library; Polish special agents
trained in the grounds of Audley End House, learning to forge and
lie their way into occupied Europe in the old nursery. Brocket
Hall, former home of Queen Victoria's favourite Lord Melbourne, was
used as a maternity home for women from the East End of London, and
the Rothschilds' magnificent French chateau-inspired Waddesdon
Manor housed a hundred children under five. The Northern Highlands,
where the fierce warriors of Scotland's past developed their
unconventional military skills, played host to the most extreme
form of warfare, training agents in the fine arts of sabotage,
subterfuge and assassination. The juxtaposition of splendour and
opulence with the everyday activities of people whose needs were at
odds with their new surroundings is at the heart of this book. This
thought-provoking and evocative narrative captures a crucial period
in the social history of Britain. Praise for Julie Summers:
'Superb...highly recommended' Who Do You Think You Are Magazine 'A
remarkable collection of stories...a rich and moving book' Mail on
Sunday 'Summers is a good and knowledgeable writer...powerful,
emotional stuff' Independent 'A poignant, lingering account' BBC
History Magazine 'A revelation - full of information,
reminiscences, humour and social history. Reading it not only gave
me great pleasure but also made me proud to be a member of such a
long lasting, valuable and vital organisation' Helen Carey OBE,
former chairman of the National Federation of Women's Institutes
General
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