London War Notes

Fascinating reading. It helps if you know an outline of the history of the war, but there’s enough social information to retain the interest even without the politics. Mollie P D was an intelligent and perceptive observer with a clear, often wryly humorous, style of writing. I came to this book after reading One Fine Day where she proves able to write lyrically as well.

Absolutely engrossing, touching and amazing. Giving my 2nd copy to my Brother-in-Law for Christmas. Merry Christmas fro Austin, Texas.

She's a very sharp observer, and writes so well.

A witty and insightful account of early war Britain. An American in London during the early years, including the Blitz the author shines a light on the “blitz spirit” and the most pressing concerns of the civilian population through her diary.It is the focus on the smaller aspects of every day life that makes this book so engaging. Alongside her evident wit and humour that comes to the fore. The challenge of the times is evident, but so too her approach to make the best of the situation, with a general disregard for the threat of Nazi Germany.An enjoyable and enlightening read, for a perspective of the home front.

This is a collection of the dispatches she filed from England for the New Yorker for decades. This collection is wry, matter-of-fact, amusing in that quietly ironic English undertone. It's an eye-witness account of the tedium & terror of those years, and the excruciating effort of constant adjustment, inconvenience, suspense, unknowing against the distant (and sometimes overhead) thunder of war. We in America are currently not in danger of enemy bombs falling on us, but her observations seem particularly applicable to our Plague Year (Years, maybe?). Anyway: I'm finding the book good company now, and a delightful discovery of human persistence through bleak times.

In her very engaging style the author describes the effect of the war on the people of London. We all know the political and military history, and it can be easy to forget what it all meant to the civilians. This book is at once informative, witty, heart wrenching, and heart warming.

I read this after reading several Mass-Observation diaries written by English women during World War II. Mollie's short articles, published in The New Yorker weekly during the same period, fill in many gaps. She has an excellent eye for detail, but is also professional enough to provide a larger context, which the diaries--valuable as they are--often don't. I found the book a fascinating read.

The story of the British home front and the Blitz told in the dispatches of New Yorker correspondent Molly Panter-Downs. Masterful writing.