The introduction of rationing in January 1940 ensured that food became a central concern for the British people during the Second World War. The food companions investigates the cinema of this period and demonstrates the cultural impact that rationing and food control had on both government propaganda and commercial feature films.
Combining archival research, detailed film analysis, and the extensive use of contemporary documents and resources, this book is the first to fully address the extensive propaganda work of the Ministry of Food both inside and outside the cinema. It also explores...

This collection of essays addresses research trends in the history of British leisure while also presenting a wide range of articles on cultural conflict and leisure in the twentieth century. It includes innovative research on a number of topics, including television, cinema, the circus, women's leisure, dance, football and drug culture. It provides an excellent entry to leisure studies and history, while addressing the contributions of other disciplines and exploring key historiographical trends. The chapters aim to emphasise contextualisation to build studies of leisure into broader...

Women's drinking has attracted enormous attention in recent years, but surprisingly this topic has not produced a comprehensive survey covering the twentieth century. Students and scholars alike can read this book to obtain a new perspective on women's drinking habits over more than a century, and the most critical factors promoting historical change.
Within a chronological framework, the book offers a way of conceptualising how women's drinking habits changed in response to wars, ideology, advertising, moral panics, sexism, legislative initiatives, employment, age, ethnicity, technology,...

This book traces the history of the relationship between work and leisure, from the 'leisure preference' of male workers in the eighteenth century, through the increase in working hours in the later eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, to their progressive decline from 1830 to 1970. It examines how trade union action was critical in achieving the decline; how class structured the experience of leisure; how male identity was shaped by both work and leisure; how, in a society that placed high value on work, a 'leisured class' was nevertheless at the apex of political and social power...

The experience of suburban modernity explores how the adoption of new forms of private transport transformed inter-war suburban London. It shows how London's suburban middle classes used their newly found disposable income to enjoy driving, motorcycling and flying. The experience of suburban modernity demonstrates that these new practices were welcomed by many, but met resistance to change from those who were dismayed by the accidents that resulted from increased mobility and the aesthetic and cultural changes that were the consequence of Americanisation and suburban development.
The book...

This book traces the history of the relationship between work and leisure, from the 'leisure preference' of male workers in the eighteenth century, through the increase in working hours in the later eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, to their progressive decline from 1830 to 1970. It examines how trade union action was critical in achieving the decline; how class structured the experience of leisure; how male identity was shaped by both work and leisure; how, in a society that placed high value on work, a 'leisured class' was nevertheless at the apex of political and social power...