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Wartime Britain

What was life like in Britain during the Second World War (1939–45)? Here we explore rationing, evacuation measures, the Blitz, crime, and the role of women

A colour illustration of First World War allies, the German Reich and Austria-Hungary, featuring soldiers shaking hands, their troops and national flags, c1915. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
First World War

Who was involved in the First World War? Who was on each side?

Contrasting biographies of iconic leader Winston Churchill show how perceptions of historical figures change with the passing of time, says David Cannadine. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Second World War

Why Churchill’s reputation is still on the line

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Alan M Turing and colleagues working on the Ferranti Mark I Computer, 1951.
Second World War

The Library Alan Turing: The man, the enigma

Staff hard at work at Bletchley Park. The people who worked here did so under conditions of utmost secrecy, and with little idea of how their work slotted into the grand scheme of things. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)
Second World War

Alan Turing was not the only star of Bletchley Park

Code-breaking personnel at Bletchley Park, 1943. (Photo by Bletchley Park Trust/SSPL/Getty Images)
Second World War

The evolution of British code-breaking

Winston Churchill. (Photo by Getty Images)
Second World War

Did Churchill’s postwar speeches save the world?

Winston Churchill making the famed ‘V’ for Victory sign. (Image by Bettmann/Getty Images)
Second World War

9 things you (probably) didn’t know about Winston Churchill

Four young members of the largest group of Kindertransport refugees arrive at Southampton, England, in March 1939. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)
Second World War

Remembering the Kindertransport

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The Ghent Altarpiece. (Image by Getty Images)
Second World War

The Library Who were the real monuments men of the Second World War?

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British prime minister Winston Churchill delivering a speech at Westminster College that addressed the Communist threat in 1946, in which he uttered the now-famous phrase 'Iron Curtain'. (Photo by George Skadding/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)
Second World War

Churchill’s greatest speeches

Members of the Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill LNER (London and North Eastern Railway) LDV (Local Defence Volunteers) dressed in their civilian clothes march along a platform passing a steam locomotive on 1 July 1940 in London. (Photo by Harry Todd/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Second World War

The Dad’s Army guide to defending Britain

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Spies through the ages podcast
General ancient history

Spies through the ages

Expelled Germans leaving Poland's western territories
Second World War

The Library After VE Day: The war without an end

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An archive photo of the Bevin Boys. The name was given to the conscripted workforce that provided Britain with coal during the Second World War. (Courtesy of Mining Art Gallery, Bishop Auckland)
Second World War

5 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Bevin Boys