Woman's Hour from Joyce Grenfell to Sharon Osbourne: Celebrating Sixty Years of Women's Lives

by Jenni Murray

Woman’s Hour is one of Britain’s greatest national institutions, entertaining millions of women—and men—since its first broadcast on October 7, 1946. For sixty years, the program has championed the woman’s perspective on topics such as health, education, family, and home, work, sex, arts, fashion, international affairs, and politics. From celebrity interviews to ordinary listeners who were invited to tell their personal stories on air, Woman’s Hour has charted the changing status of women throughout the latter 20th century and into the 21st. Now, for the first time, this book brings together many of these interviews, reflecting the passage of the decades through the unique voices of those who have taken part. Highlights include presenter Jill Allgood interviewing Joyce Grenfell in her own home in the post-war years, to Ailsa Garland discussing hair and fashion with Cilla Black in the swinging sixties; Germaine Greer and Kate Millet advocating a women’s movement in the 1970s; the Thatcher years of the 1980s; Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi campaigning for Burmese democracy in 1996; and Sharon Osbourne talking parenthood and cosmetic surgery in 2005. Woman’s From Joyce Grenfell to Sharon Osbourne tells a vivid and personal history through the voices of its guests, and provides a thrilling insight into how the program has inspired, set the agenda, and brought women together over six fascinating decades.

Genres: Nonfiction

416 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Mary Arkless · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was comprised of transcripts of interviews held on the BBC's Women's Hour, a radio program. For each decade there was a commentary on what happened to the world, British society, women's rights and Women's Hour. The interviews themselves were often with famous women of the day, some of whom of international fame, but also with ordinary people who somehow came to the attention of the general public, or were experts on a certain topic. It was very interesting to see what was being talked about in the various decades, but also to see that some things - like equal pay for equal work - have been discussed for the entire existence of the program.



This is a keeper!

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm really finding this interesting. History as I like it - easy to read and relevant.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come

[Judith Falkner · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was another of my car books, read whilst waiting. It was surprisingly dull in places.