Food in Wartime Britain

Based on deep analysis of Mass Observation wartime diaries, Food in Wartime Britain explores the food experience of the British middle classes in their own words throughout the course of the Second World War. It reveals that, while the food practices of the population were modified by rationing and food scarcity, social class and personal circumstances were key dimensions of the wartime food experience that demand to be taken into account in the historical narrative of the Home Front.

Natacha Chevalier is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Sussex, United Kingdom.

Introduction, sources and methodology; Part I: The British and their food; 1. British eating habits: a short history; 2. Food and social classes; 3. Food management in wartime; Part II: Testimonies from the Kitchen Front; 4. The diarists and their diaries; 5. The Kitchen Front; Epilogue and conclusion