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This thesis concerns women’s wartime diaries written for the radical social research organisation Mass-Observation (M-O) between 1939 and 1967, treating these as ‘social texts’ informed by social and temporal practices which also influence what ‘a diary’ is more widely perceived to ‘be’ as a genre of writing. It analyses the centrality of time and temporality to these social practices, to the relationship between writing and representation, and also to what it was to write a diary specifically for M-O and thus to position oneself as a ‘subjective camera’. Chapter One overviews the genesis and activities of M-O, its co-founders’ research perspectives and how these influenced activities in Worktown and the Economics of Everyday Life project and also in Blackheath, London. Blackheath activities are examined in detail because M-O’s Directives and Day-Diaries were organised from there, the latter providing the material for Jennings and Madge’s (1937) May Twelfth, the basis for their conceptualisation of ‘subjective cameras’ and also the starting point for the wartime diaries. Chapter Two discusses the origins of the wartime diaries, and analyses anthologies compiled using this material, the individual M-O diaries that have been published, and two attempts in the 1940s to produce M-O books from the diaries, discussing how previous uses have influenced my own analytic approach. Chapter Three examines the complications that M-O diaries make to popular understandings of the diary form, in particular by the multiple and diverse influences impinging upon writing a diary for M-O. A key example concerns overlaps between M-O diaries and letters, showing that epistolary conventions and practices are extensively drawn on by M-O and its diarists and that inscription of times and dates are central to this. Chapter Four examines temporal aspects of the diary-genre and analyses their writing ‘over time’ by focusing on the long-term diary written by Nella Last, what she did with time in its pages, and how the methodological approach I utilised for sampling and analysing it impacts on interpretation of temporal matters. Chapter Five analyses diary-entries written by different women for the same dates, exploring discrete specific temporal points to examine what is happening with time in relation to this, again reflectively commenting on the interpretational consequences of methodological strategies. The Conclusion considers M-O’s idea of diarists as ‘subjective cameras’ and theorises its connections to time and diary-writing.

The post-war period has witnessed the Speakership of the House of Commons evolving from an important internal parliamentary office into one of the most recognised public roles in British political life. This historic office has not, however, been examined in any detail since Philip Laundy’s seminal work entitled The Office of Speaker published in 1964. This thesis updates Laundy’s work and brings the examination of the Speakership right up to the election of John Bercow as Speaker in June 2009. The manner by which the Speaker is elected and how this process has changed since 1945 is explored as is the way in which a Speaker contests a general election if he or she wishes to remain in office for longer than one parliamentary session. The powers and responsibilities of the Speaker are identified and the way in which these have changed and developed are discussed. Each of the post-war Speakers is examined to see what his or her personal contribution has been to the ongoing development of the office. The thesis concludes with an analysis of how the Speakership is viewed today compared with the start of the period. The office has always been held in high esteem by fellow parliamentarians but now it enjoys similar recognition by the wider general public thanks to the introduction of radio and television broadcasting of the House of Commons. Whilst the task of chairing the debates in the chamber remains the same, a modern Speaker must also rise to the challenge of being a skilled administrator, diplomat and media personality.

This thesis examines how and why we remember the 1950s in Britain in particular ways. The 1950s have become a popular and visible decade in the culture of 'retro' since the late-1960s; there is a stylistic fascination with iconic symbols that have become shorthand for the post-war era. Popular memory is the everyday sense of a past which circulates in a particular culture through the interaction of past and present, public and private, which is expressed and experienced through memory, media and commodities. I interrogate how popular memory is expressed nostalgically through 'Fifties' retro and heritage in Britain, revealing the tensions between past and present in the politics of remembering. In the main, studies of popular representations of the past through nostalgia and retro have largely remained within the boundaries of academic disciplines such as subcultural studies, design/art history and collective memory theory. I use this scholarship in combination to analyse our popular historical culture because a popular sense of the past is created and experienced by an interaction of many different cultural expressions, experiences and representations. Using an interdisciplinary approach, this project blends interviews with fans of Fifties revival culture with other sources such as memories from the Mass Observation Archive, period dramas on film and television, retro in popular music, as well as press reception on retro and nostalgia. This innovative methodology foregrounds the tensions and politics of representing the past, challenging the notion of popular memory of the 1950s as merely 'retro' consumerism and manipulated history. Recent academic thought has emphasised the 'presentness' of nostalgia; that this emotional, rose-tinted view of the past is actually a response to the present. This project suggests nostalgia can be used with agency - individuals and communities use nostalgic images for a wide range of personal and political meanings; nostalgia can also be dynamic and pleasurable. We remember the past through family albums and personal memory, but these interact with mediated pasts in retro popular culture, favourite films and period dramas. My research calls for a more democratic approach to historical study which considers not just 'what happened' in the past but the politics of how we imagine and re-imagine the past.

The Boy’s Own Paper and Girl’s Own Paper were launched in 1879 and 1880 respectively by the Religious Tract Society, an evangelical Christian missionary organisation. Both papers were long running, with Girl’s Own Paper ceasing publication in 1956 and Boy’s Own Paper continuing until 1967. Many existing studies of the papers have focused strongly on the Victorian and Edwardian years of their existence, and have often taken content as a starting point, attempting to interpret their meaning or significance. This study adopts a wholly fresh perspective, taking a holistic approach to the papers, and thus acknowledging their production in its entirety. It considers the period from 1914 to 1967, which was a key period for the papers but also a significant time in British social history. Both papers are viewed as constructs; negotiated space in which the publisher, editors and readers all interacted in the production of the text. There is analysis of the role of the Religious Tract Society as publisher, its aims and objectives, its influence in wider society, and the significance of its evangelical outlook. The importance of the editorial role is considered, not least the manner in which editors interacted with readers and set the tone of the papers within the publisher’s framework. Readers’ interactions with the papers are explored, and the opportunities these afforded for them to participate in the construction of the text. The Boy’s Own Paper and Girl’s Own Paper are viewed, not as reflections of reality, but as evidence of the way in which issues such as gender, religious identity and social change were constructed through the interactions of publisher, editors and readers; all of whom saw the papers as far more than ‘just a magazine’.

This is a study of British policy-makers and their perceptions of the Empire immediately after the First World War. It explores the post-1918 crises most frequently noted by historians – the nationalist challenges in Ireland, India and Egypt – and demonstrates how policy-makers came to view these challenges as interconnected. It argues, moreover, for the centrality of the Irish situation in shaping the responses of policy-makers to developments in India and Egypt. The thesis also investigates the impact of phenomena such as black nationalism in the West Indies, growing labour militancy in Britain and the Empire, and the politico-religious movement of pan-Islam. Policy-makers saw these as being enmeshed with one another, and frequently attempted to comprehend or explain them as ‘Bolshevik’ intrigue. Whereas nationalist challenges were viewed through an ‘Irish prism’, these phenomena were viewed commonly through a ‘Bolshevik’ one. Additionally, it is stressed that post-war political and socio-economic unrest was seen to be reverberating across areas of traditional British control, such as the Mediterranean, and newer areas, such as the Middle East. Worries about labour unrest, growing nationalisms and movements such as pan-Islam led to a re-shaping of British policy in these regions. The more autonomous parts of the Empire also presented post-war challenges. Increasing Dominion assertiveness meant that Anglo-Dominion relations changed significantly during this period. It is argued that this shaped key aspects of British military and foreign policy, and influenced Britain’s relationships with, notably, Japan and the United States. In the ‘informal’ Empire in South America, meanwhile, policy-makers registered a rapid decline in British influence immediately the War ended and acquiesced to growing American strength there. The major post-war concerns that are identified were not encountered by policy-makers individually. They were powerfully present simultaneously and were perceived in London as an entangled and interconnected challenge to British imperialism.

119 Brigade, 40th Division, had an unusual origin as a 'left-over' brigade of the Welsh Army Corps and was the only completely bantam formation outside 35th Division. This study investigates the formation's national identity and demonstrates that it was indeed strongly 'Welsh' in more than name until 1918. New data on discipline and the social background of men and officers is added to that generated by earlier studies. The examination of the brigade's actions on the Westem Front challenges the widely held belief that there was an inherent problem with this and other bantam formations. The original make-up of the brigade is compared with its later forms when new and less efficient units were introduced. Training is identified as key to success in battle. The controversial Frank Percy Crozier commanded the unit for most of its active service and the study examines the often-quoted books by Crozier putting them into context and concluding that they must be used warily as source material. The study advances the view that Crozier, while not an easy man to like, was an efficient and effective commander during the Great War and not the 'callous and overbearing martinet' often portrayed.

In the second half of the 19th century, Alexandra Princess of Wales and later Queen Consort to her husband Edward VII became one of the most recognizable women of the period. Her image was circulated around the globe by the million and her every movement recorded daily in The Times. Despite her contemporary celebrity, she has become a lesser-known figure in modern history. With little in the way of political influence, Alexandra recognized that her ppearance in public was powerful. She used clothes throughout her life to both display and disguise herself. despite the centrality of dress in her life, no other study has ever examined her remaining items of clothing until now. This thesis considers in detail those garments that have survived from Queen Alexandra’s wardrobe, most of which, owing to their geographic spread, have never been studied before. This object-led approach allows an analysis of a life, which has been considered before in more traditional biographies. However, the close examination of the garments and of Alexandra’s approach to her clothing reveals aspects never before considered. It has also prompted the consideration of previously under researched areas such as royal laundry, the role of the dresser and the logistics of 19th century royal travel. As a multi-disciplinary project it has shed new light onto Alexandra’s life and dispelled certain apocryphal stories which only the material culture itself could reveal.

The thesis addresses the question, ‘How did the First World War affect the religious faith of the people of Britain?’ The ways in which wartime preachers, hymn-writers, diarists and letter-writers expressed their faith are examined. For the vast majority, the War was both a military and a spiritual conflict of right against might and the rhetoric of a Holy War was popular. Questions of divine omnipotence and providence troubled many, the standard response being that war was a consequence of God’s gift of free will. The language of sacrifice dominated public discourse, with many asserting that the salvation of the fallen was ensured by their own sacrifice. Prayers for the dead became widely accepted in the Church of England. Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy promoted the belief that God shares in human suffering. However, there is little evidence that his advocacy of divine impassibility was influential subsequently. Wartime ecumenical activities and attitudes are analysed, the hopes for Christian unity of the 1920 Lambeth Conference are discussed and the naïve optimism of many bishops is contrasted with the reality of ecclesiological differences. The conclusion is that the War’s influence on people’s faith was limited and reasons for this are suggested.

Little art-historical scholarship has been dedicated to fine art responding to the British home front during the First World War. Within pre-war British society concepts of sexual difference functioned to promote masculine authority. Nevertheless in Britain during wartime enlarged female employment alongside the presence of injured servicemen suggested feminine authority and masculine weakness, thereby temporarily destabilizing pre-war values. Adopting a socio-historical perspective, this thesis argues that artworks engaging with the home front have been largely excluded from art history because of partiality shown towards masculine authority within the matrices of British society. Furthermore, this situation has been supported by the writing of art history, which has, arguably, followed similar premise. This study will demonstrate that engagement with the home front inevitably meant that artists’ work could be interpreted as supporting different values to the pre-war period. However, the reintegration of ex-servicemen after the war resulted in the promotion of the wartime ordeal of male combatants. Not only did this restore the pre-war position of men, it inspired canonical values for British First World War art to uphold masculine authority. Consequently much art engaging with the home front has been deemed antithetical to established canonical values and written-out of art history.