Books & Digital Picks
This month’s family history inspiration
While the centenary has renewed public interest in the First World War, its aftermath – and the stories of those who returned home from battle – remain largely overlooked.
In this captivating book, Mike Hutton redresses the balance, extending the story by a further 12 months and exploring virtually every facet of British life in 1919. From the music halls of mill towns to the cocktail bars of London hotels, readers are treated to a whistle-stop tour of Blighty, revealing what people ate, drank, wore and worshipped.
Even with Spanish Flu adding to the death toll, the most striking theme throughout the book is how ordinary Britons – still mired in mourning – were able to enjoy themselves. Although the class-conscious values of the Edwardian era persisted, it was a time of profound change, providing both new leisure opportunities and scope for social mobility.
However, in trying to cover so much ground, Hutton often paints with broad strokes. Some comments regarding the morals, beliefs and minutiae of everyday life (without clear citations) come across as nostalgic generalisations based on select anecdotes.
Instead, Hutton – a gifted storyteller – is at his best when drawing upon specific events and other newsworthy incidents, long faded from living memory. Scandalous tales of bed-hopping and drug addiction in high society are described with colour and panache, while reports of football matches and jazz concerts also of the 1921 census just around the corner, it’s also the perfect guidebook to a bygone Britain that those households would have recognised.
Jon Bauckham is a writer and journalist who is based in Bristol and specialises in history, heritage and culture
‘Mike Hutton explores virtually every facet of British life in 1919’