Britain and 1940
Subtitle: history, myth, and popular memory
By: Malcolm Smith.
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2000
Place of publication: London; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 178
Subjects: World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Western Front.; World War, 1939-1945 -- Great Britain.; Great Britain -- History -- George VI, 1936-1952.
Description: "The year 1940 was the most significant in European history during the last century. Its reverberations are still with us. But the implications of what happened in 1940 have meant different things in different countries. For Britain it was 'the finest hour', the beginning of a People's War. How did people foresee 1940 before it happened? How were representations changed over the years? What does 1940 mean now?"

"This book covers the prehistory of 1940 in Britain, tracing the great fear that a second world war would perhaps mean the end of British civilization. It charts the development in wartime culture and popular politics of the myths of Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. It describes the varied ways in which the myths of 1940 have impacted on British politics and attitudes to the outside world since. Malcolm Smith argues that myths are historical events in their own right, that they form conceptions of the past, that they need explanation rather than exposure as 'lies'. The book presents a panorama of the influences that have constructed national consciousness around a crucial moment in British history."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [161]-171) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: 1 Introduction 1; title: 2 The projection of war, 1918 to 1939 10; title: 3 To Dunkirk 29; title: 4 Invasion and the Battle of Britain 52; title: 5 The Blitz 70; title: 6 Wartime politics and popular culture 91; title: 7 Refighting the war: Attlee to Blair 111; title: 8 America, Europe and the world 130; title: 9 Conclusion 149.