Private words: Letters and diaries from the Second World War

by Ronald Blythe

World War II was, among other things, a great "reading and writing" war. There was a passion for books of all kinds, and also a remarkable outpouring of personal writing in the form of letters and diaries. The latter were actually forbidden in the services because they might fall into enemy hands, but this did not prevent them from being kept in startling quantities. The young especially, whether on the Home Front or fighting, became extraordinary self-examiners and communicators, finding all kinds of outlets for what was happening to them in the shape of private records and correspondence. It was a time when people lived for letters, and when, since much of the war was spent in boredom by the average participant, reading became the perfect escape. Half of the book is made up of the wartime writing of the author's friends and the other half has been drawn from the Department of Documents at the Imperial War Museum. It is a personal statement that makes shifts from pain, despair and death to absurdity, laughter and bravery. The author also wrote "A Treasonable Growth", "Akenfield", "The View in Winter", "The Age of Illusion" and "Writing in a War".

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 26, 1991

About the author

Ronald Blythe CBE was one of the UK's greatest living writers. His work, which won countless awards, includes Akenfield (a Penguin 20th-Century Classic and a feature film), Private Words, Field Work, Outsiders: A Book of Garden Friends and numerous other titles. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded their prestigious Benson Medal in 2006. In 2017, he was appointed CBE for services to literature

Reviews

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

c1991: As it says on the tin, really. In this day of electronic communications, it is difficult to comprehend the thought that went behind many of the letters. The speed at which the mail was received meant that it could take a while for questions to be answered and statements to be explained. And I can only imagine the impact this had on relationships. It is an easy read with little to no comment by the editor of the collection but so heartbreaking in many ways. Equally, it is uplifting as many of these 'contributors' survived the war and the marriages survived. Recommended to the World War II buffs amongst the normal crew as well as those interested in 'ordinary' lives. "[this about the infamous Lord Haw Haw aka William Joyce] Before the war he had a bungalow at Goring-by-Sea, where he held many a noisy week-end party. Sometimes we would go swimming at a small cove in Goring because it was very quiet, and I was pregnant with my first child and shouldn't feel conspicuous in front of other bathers. Occasionally William Joyce and his companions would walk slowly along the beach and stop near us to have a chat. He seemed quite pleasant. He was a rather funny little man with a scar down the side of his face, which he said was the result of a duel in his teens (!). I never felt really at ease in his presence. It was rumoured that he was rather fond of the fair sex."