War and Social Change: British Society in the Second World War

The contributors to this volume look at the effects of World War II on British society, on employment policy, planning, health care, education, demography, and on groups such as women, businessmen, the Labour Party and the working class. In contrast to the view of many historians, they suggest that surprisingly little wartime change was lasting. A significant degree of unity prevailed, given the opportunity for extensive alterations in society, and much of the change which did last beyond the conflict arose out of the pre-war rather than the wartime period. Social historians and those concerned with the development of social policy, students and teachers of women's studies, economic history, sociology and business history, as well as general readers, may find this volume of interest.