Out of Harm's Way
By (Author) Jessica Mann
Headline Publishing Group
Headline Book Publishing
13th April 2006
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Migration, immigration and emigration
Social impact of disasters / accidents (natural or man-made)
940.53161
Paperback
352
Width 128mm, Height 190mm, Spine 28mm
240g
In June 1940 Britain expected enemy invasion. Despite Churchill's determination to fight on the beaches, many parents made desperate efforts to send their children abroad to safety. Thousands left for America, Canada, Australia and other distant countries.
In this revealing new book, Jessica Mann, herself a wartime evacuee, looks at the experiences of those who were sent away to a foreign land including their dangerous journeys across U-boat-ridden oceans, and asks how they coped with being away, and also how they found life back in the UK on their return. Drawing on extensive original research and memories of many former evacuees, including Elizabeth Taylor and Shirley Williams, Jessica Mann builds up a moving portrait of a lost generation.'Mann's book is a gut-wrenchingly moving but perfectly balanced account of a forgotten episode of British history, of parental love and childhood hurt, the brilliance of which comes from the lack of sentiment or judgment. Sometimes the facts are heartbreaking enough' -- Guardian 20060319 'packed with illuminating experiences' -- Mail on Sunday 20060319 'A gripping read' -- Seven 20060408
Jessica Mann is a crime novelist and journalist. In 1940, at the age of two, she was evacuated, first to Canada and later to America, returning home three years later. She studied archaeology at Cambridge and law at the University of Leicester. She lives in Cornwall with her husband, the archaeologist Professor Charles Thomas.