Black Poppies

Stephen Bourne • £12.99
The History Press

In 1914 Britain was home to at least 10,000 black Britons, many of African and West Indian heritage. Most of them were loyal to the ‘mother country’ when the First World War broke out. Despite being discouraged from serving in the British Army, men managed to join all branches of the forces, while black communities contributed to the war effort on the home front.

By 1918 it is estimated that Britain’s black population had trebled to 30,000, as many black servicemen who had fought for Britain decided to make it their home. It was far from a happy ending, however, as they and their families often came under attack from white ex-servicemen and civilians increasingly resentful of their presence. With first-hand accounts and original photographs, Black Poppies is the essential guide to the military and civilian wartime experiences of black men and women, from the trenches to the music halls.

Intended as a companion to Stephen Bourne’s previous books published by The History Press: Mother Country: Britain’s Black Community on the Home Front 1939–45 and The Motherland Calls: Britain’s Black Servicemen and Women 1939–45.

Narrow Boat

LTC Rolt • £14.99
The History Press

Take a trip down the waterways of England during their glorious heyday… It was on a spring day in 1939 that L.T.C. Rolt first stepped aboard ‘Cressy’. He tells the story of how he and his wife adapted and fitted out the boat for their home and recreates the journey of some 400 miles that they made along the network of waterways in the Midlands. Recalling the boatmen and their craft and celebrating the seemingly timeless nature of the English countryside in those times through which they passed. First published in 1944, and now reissued, over 60 years on with new black-and-white illustrations, it has become a classic on its subject, and is said to have started a revival of interest in the English waterways. Rolt was a renowned expert on canals and founder of the Inland Waterways Association. This is the perfect book for all those wanting to remember a bygone era of canal life.

Fashion in the 1940s

Jayne Shrimpton • £7.95
Shire Books

This book by Periodical regular Jayne Shrimpton reveals the impact of wartime and austerity on British fashion and tells the story of how a spirit of patriotism and make-do and- mend unleashed a wave of new creativity among women who were starved of high fashion by shortages and rationing. Many home dressmakers copied the high-end looks, and women involved in war work created a whole new aesthetic of less formal street wear. It also shows how WW2 shifted the centre of the couture scene away from Paris, allowing British designers to influence Home Front style.

Maps: Their Untold Stories

Rose Mitchell & Andrew Janes • £30
Bloomsbury

A map is a snapshot of a place, a city, a nation or even the world at a given point in time. Maps have much to tell us about the way our ancestors saw themselves and their place in the world. Drawn from seven centuries of maps held in The National Archives at Kew, near London, this superb selection spans maps found in medieval manuscripts, early estate maps, sea charts, maps used in military campaigns and maps from treaties. The text explores who the mapmakers were, the purposes for which the maps were made, and what they tell us about the politics of the time. Featured maps include: maps showing a deserted village and a lost royal palace; naval charts by 18th century explorers Cook and Bligh; and a map of routes to the Great Exhibition in 1851 presented on a lady’s kid glove. Richly illustrated with reproductions of more than 100 maps, this is a fascinating and unusual journey through the world of maps and mapmakers.