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History Commons

British Society 1939–1951

How a nation under pressure reveals its true character

From blitzed streets to kitchen tables, the story of Britain’s resilience, struggle, and transformation—told by the people who lived it

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Sourced from The National Archives (UK) and the History of Advertising Trust, the collection presents views of everyday life during turbulent decades—from book rations of the 1940s to the voices of evacuees, factory workers, refugees, and civil servants.

Rare documents cover food, morale, crime, bomb shelters, air raids, racism, and economic hardships—from government surveys to the narratives and testimonies of ordinary citizens.

At a glance

6,824

publications—all previously undigitized

11

file collections—covering eleven government departments, with associated ads and propaganda

A broad range of topics

  • Surveys on the social impact of bombing

  • Records of local wartime organizations

  • Reports on the living conditions of bomb shelters

  • Regional evacuation numbers

  • Minutes of local Food Control Committees

  • Records of the Government Evacuation Scheme

  • Home Affairs papers of Churchill's War Cabinet

  • Policy papers on refugees and internment

  • Records of the Women's Land Army

  • Committee on National Service and the wartime workforce

  • Civil intelligence reports from the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Home Security

  • Records of Home Guard units

  • Transcripts of Axis broadcasts

  • Government propaganda, including film production documents and "Kitchen Front" PR broadcasts from the Ministry of Food

  • Advertisements for government initiatives

Local snapshots, global context

The collection offers more than a domestic snapshot. It also tracks how British policy, propaganda, and public sentiment responded to global challenges.

Researchers will find rich insights into how governments made decisions, how communities adapted—or fractured—and how people, from the most ordinary to the most overlooked, recorded their lives in times of upheaval.

Communications throughout the British Empire and among Britain’s allies—British policies around the world, comparative surveys of conditions outside of the UK, and other materials—illustrate global relationships and attitudes.

For studying gender, race, class, health, media, and public policy, British Society is a vivid, indispensable primary source for understanding the forces that defined a century.

Insights into how policy was made

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1: Data

Statistics and narratives addressing a situation

Reports, surveys, letters from the public, statistical data, maps, charts, and diagrams that will inform a plan of action.

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2: Analysis of the data

Government interpretation of details

Briefings, official correspondence, meeting minutes, and memoranda documenting how a policy response is formulated.

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3: Policy

Implementation and propaganda

Advertisements, pamphlets, posters, film and broadcast transcripts, press summaries, publications, and other elements of the policy put into action.

Curated content

Dive deeper by reading the comprehensive file bibliography.

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"The sheer volume of material available here deserves recognition: this is not a partial nor selective view, but rather a comprehensive catalogue of various aspects of British society during the Second World War."

David Clampin, Liverpool John Moores University

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Support for teaching and learning

Students want to engage with previously secret primary sources—and these are especially accessible, because many are written simply, in the form of briefings.

Additional support tools include:

  • Subject essays and lesson plans written by members of the Editorial Board

  • Video introductions, seminar topics, reading lists and document-based questions

  • A glossary of key people, ministers, and other officials who constituted the government of the UK

  • An organizational directory of contributing organizations

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"From the public and official face of the war to the rumors that spread like wildfire, from the individual experiences of civilians under aerial bombardment to government effort to manage a total war economy—it’s all here.”

Brett Holman, University of New England, Australia

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Our editorial board

David Clampin

Subject Leader for History, Liverpool John Moores University

Juliette Pattinson

Director of the Division of Arts and Humanities, University of Kent

Daniel Ussishkin

Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Karen Schaller

Lecturer in Literature, University of East Anglia

Brett Holman

Communications Officer, University of Melbourne

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