We will not be able to dance a conga or enjoy a street party — let alone flock to Buckingham Palace, as millions did back on May 8, 1945. Tomorrow, 75 years on, it is going to be an unavoidably subdued anniversary of the day that the UK finally celebrated Victory in Europe. Nonetheless, we … Read more
How do you follow your heart during wartime? This remarkable treasure trove of letters gives a unique insight into home-front life and romance Eileen and Gershon on their wedding day, 1944 Eileen Alexander was a brilliant scholar, graduating from Cambridge in 1939. Her academic career derailed by the war, she lived in London with her … Read more
Heartwarming footage has captured residents at a coronavirus-hit care home where 14 people have died amid the coronavirus crisis being sung classic wartime songs to raise their spirits. Vera Lynn tribute act Deborah Taylor-Smith, known as the Geordie Sweetheart ‘Wor Vera’, sang a selection of morale-lifting songs such as ‘We’ll Meet Again’ and ‘White Cliffs … Read more
Heathrow Airport is being ‘repurposed’ as part of a wartime effort to keep vital medical supplies flowing into the country. Britain’s biggest airport will overhaul its operations this week to prioritise cargo flights carrying pharmaceutical products. Almost half of Britain’s medical supplies will be shipped in via the West London airport, including medicines, vaccines and … Read more
Here We Are Graham Swift Scribner £14.99 Rating: Way back in 1983, Graham Swift wrote the novel – Waterland – that made him famous, or at least almost famous, as he is the Invisible Man of English Letters, rarely signing books at literary festivals or holding forth on Newsnight. Waterland was about the way human … Read more