Leeds at War 1939 - 1945

Leeds at War 1939-1945 is a comprehensive account of the citys experience of the war, covering in expert detail life on the Home Front set against the background of the wider theatres of war. The narrative of that global conflict is given with a focus on the trials and ordeals that faced the people of Leeds as they cheered their men and women fighters off to war, were bombed and saw their children evacuated to rural areas. Rare insights into the life of war-torn Leeds are included, along with untold stories from the footnotes of that history, from the air-raid shelters to the internment issues. The book incorporates the unique human record of that struggle from memoirs and memories, so that the reader sees the war bottom up from the ordinary people, although the military experiences of Leeds’ citizens are not ignored. More controversial topics are also touched upon, such as anti-Semitism, labour troubles and crime, to give a full and fascinating picture of a great city facing profound trials of endurance, courage, and that true Yorkshire grit that has been the hallmark of the citys rise to prominence in Britain. AUTHOR: Stephen Wade was born in Leeds, educated at the universities of Wales and Leeds, and as a writer he has written widely on his home county. His main interests as a historian are in Victorian and Edwardian crime, as well as military history. Stephen’s family, from Beeston and Churwell, were enmeshed in the war, and he recalls vividly wartime tales, as told by his parents and grandparents. Stephen, who still has his ration book, has written several books on the Great War, his most recent work being The Justice Women.