Volume 33, Issue 1 p. e1-e10
INTERSECTIONS

The “Last of the Ordinary Sundays”: How to Prepare for the Air War

Kimberly Mair

Kimberly Mair

Kimberly Mair is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Lethbridge. This article is an abridged version of the preface to a book in preparation: Mass Observation and the Biopolitics of Care in WWII Britain.Search for more papers by this author
First published: 03 March 2020

Abstract

How did instructions for war preparations change the contours of the household in Britain during the Second World War? How were readers of instructional leaflets positioned in relation to the presumed safety of the household and the nation? To illustrate the range of imperative instructions that circulated before and during the war, as well as anxious air war anticipation, this piece draws from home front imperatives communicated through a variety of sources, including pre-war and wartime instructional leaflets, posters, and other literature to demonstrate their reach into the most minute aspects of everyday life to establish a productive link between habit and care.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.