We Danced All Night

Bounded by the Great War on one side and by the looming shadow of the Second World War on the other, the inter-war period has characteristically been portrayed as a time of unremitting poverty, rising crime and mass unemployment. In Martin Pugh's lively and thought-provoking new book, however, the acclaimed historian vividly shows how the British people reacted to the privations of wartime by indulging in leisure and entertainment activities of all kinds - from dancing and cinema going to smoking, football pools and paid holidays. He explodes the myths of a nation of unwed women, revealing that in the 1930s the institution of marriage was reaching its heyday, and points to a rise in real incomes, improvements in diet and health and the spread of cheap luxuries. The result is an extraordinary, engaging work of history that presents us with a fresh perspective and brings out both the strangeness and the familiarity of this point in time.

ISBN 1844139239   Pages 512 ISBN13 9781844139231 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 374 Publisher Vintage   Published in London Imprint Vintage   Height (mm) 210 Format Paperback   Width (mm) 131 Publication date 02 Jul 2009   Spine width (mm) 34 DEWEY 941.083   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

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