Among other things, I'm currently reading London At War, 1939-1945 by Phillip Ziegler. It is without question the funniest WW2 book I've come across (Ziegler humorously draws attention to the initial disorganization of Civil Defence, the characteristic pluck of Londoners, the arrival of American GIs, etc.) while still remaining articulate, informative and well organized.
Of course, it's not all funny, but it's one thing that stood out to me after reading so many World War Two books. If we go by South Park's rule that we're allowed to laugh at something after 22.3 years (I'm citing the episode Jared has Aides), we should definitely be able to appreciate the humour of events without any guilt. Or whatever. It's 1 am and I'm not making much sense, but that's just fine.
Anyway. At nearly 400 pages there is little that Ziegler has left out. One thing that really interests me during this period is racial and ethnic discrimination, which he also addresses. That said, I need to find some books about gays and lesbians in Britain at that time (if you have any suggestions, let me know). I'm excited to read the rest of London at War. So far it's proving to be a fantastic read.
Mr Ziegler has written many other books, including one on the plague. If he manages to point out the more ridiculous points of Second World War, I can't wait to find out what he says about the plague in his aptly titled Black Death.
Happy reading!
Delirious P.S. Maybe I should have called this the Blitz Blog? Or is that less funny and more cutesy-poo? Whatever. Goodnight, wherever you are...
