Debs at War
How Wartime Changed Their Lives, 1939-1945
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Debs at War
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Narrated by:
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Rachel Atkins
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By:
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Anne de Courcy
About this listen
An extraordinary account - from firsthand sources - of upper-class women and the active part they took in the war.
Pre-war debutantes were members of the most protected, not to say isolated, stratum of 20th-century society: the young (17-20) unmarried daughters of the British upper classes. For most of them, the war changed all that for ever. It meant independence and the shock of the new, and daily exposure to customs and attitudes that must have seemed completely alien to them. For many, the almost military regime of an upper-class childhood meant they were well suited for the no-nonsense approach needed in wartime.
This book records the extraordinary diversity of challenges, shocks, and responsibilities they faced - as chauffeurs, couriers, ambulance-drivers, nurses, pilots, spies, decoders, factory workers, farmers, land girls, as well as in the Women's Services. How much did class barriers really come down? Did they stick with their own sort? And what about fun and love in wartime - did love cross the class barriers?
©2005 Anne de Courcy (P)2021 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Remarkable
- By Anonymous User on 05-11-21
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The Road to Station X
- From Debutante Ball to Fighter-Plane Factory to Bletchley Park: A Memoir of One Woman’s Journey Through World War Two
- By: Sarah Baring
- Narrated by: Polly Lee
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 103
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 87
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 87
In 1938, Sarah Baring was enjoying life as a young debutante. Only a few years later, at the height of World War Two, she was working alongside some of the greatest minds of Britain in their code-breaking operations at Bletchley Park. How did she end up in the top-secret world of cyphers and codes?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing historical fiction
- By Anonymous User on 07-23-22
By: Sarah Baring
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Queen of the Mersey
- By: Maureen Lee
- Narrated by: Maggie Ollerenshaw
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Queenie is only 14 and has been deserted by her mother. Set in Liverpool and Wales at the outbreak of World War II, this story explores themes of female friendship and betrayal from the perspective of a group of women of widely different ages.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Entertaining
- By W on 05-27-08
By: Maureen Lee
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The Housekeeper's Tale
- The Women Who Really Ran the English Country House
- By: Tessa Boase
- Narrated by: Tessa Boase
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 239
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 216
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Story4 out of 5 stars 214
The Housekeeper's Tale reveals the personal sacrifices, bitter disputes and driving ambition that shaped these women's careers. Using secret diaries, unpublished letters, and the neglected service archives of our stately homes, Tessa Boase tells the extraordinary stories of five working women who ran some of Britain's most prominent households.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Utterly intriguing
- By Pamela Jane on 09-14-17
By: Tessa Boase
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George VI and Elizabeth
- The Marriage That Saved the Monarchy
- By: Sally Bedell Smith
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 87
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 77
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
A revelatory account of how the loving marriage of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth saved the monarchy during World War II, and how they raised their daughter to become Queen Elizabeth II, based on exclusive access to the Royal Archives—from the bestselling author of Elizabeth the Queen and Prince Charles.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great telling of their lives
- By Anonymous User on 04-15-23
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King's Counsellor
- Abdication and War: The Diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles
- By: Sir Alan Lascelles, Duff Hart-Davis
- Narrated by: Pip Torrens
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 108
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 89
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Story5 out of 5 stars 88
As Assistant Private Secretary to four monarchs, 'Tommy' Lascelles had a ringside seat from which to observe the workings of the royal household and Downing Street during the first half of the 20th century. These fascinating diaries begin with Edward VIII's abdication and end with George VI's death and his daughter Elizabeth's Coronation. In between we see George VI at work and play, a portrait more intimate than any other previously published.
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5 out of 5 stars
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One of the most enjoyable audiobooks I've heard.
- By Anonymous User on 04-14-21
By: Sir Alan Lascelles, and others
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Last Boat Out of Shanghai
- The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution
- By: Helen Zia
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 494
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 415
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 412
The dramatic real-life stories of four young people caught up in the mass exodus of Shanghai in the wake of China's 1949 Communist revolution. Benny must decide either to escape to Hong Kong or navigate the intricacies of a newly Communist China. Annuo, forced to flee with her father, a defeated Nationalist official, becomes an unwelcome exile in Taiwan. The financially strapped Ho fights deportation from the US in order to continue his studies while his family struggles at home. Bing, given away by her poor parents, faces the prospect of a new life among strangers in America.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book, poor performance
- By Anonymous User on 07-02-19
By: Helen Zia
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The Last Jews in Berlin
- By: Leonard Gross
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 99
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 88
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 88
When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, approximately 160,000 Jews called Berlin home. By 1943 less than 5,000 remained in the nation's capital, the epicenter of Nazism, and by the end of the war, that number had dwindled to 1,000. All the others had died in air raids, starved to death, committed suicide, or been shipped off to the death camps. In this captivating and harrowing book, Leonard Gross details the real-life stories of a dozen Jewish men and women who spent the final 27 months of World War II underground, hiding in plain sight.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very good WWll Jewish lives in Berlin
- By it.is grat!' on 10-30-24
By: Leonard Gross
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What Once Was True
- By: Jean Grainger
- Narrated by: Caroline Lennon
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 907
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 806
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 799
Robinswood, Co. Waterford, 1939. The once grand house is home to two very different families. Despite delusions of grandeur, Lord and Lady Kenefick and their adult children live a life of decayed opulence as the money needed to keep such a large house and grounds ever dwindles. Meanwhile, the Murphy family, Dermot, Isabella and their three almost grown-up girls, live and work on the estate and do their best to keep everything running smoothly.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I throughly enjoyed every minute of this book
- By Anonymous User on 09-16-20
By: Jean Grainger
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Put Out More Flags
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
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Story4 out of 5 stars 56
Upper-class scoundrel Basil Seal, mad, bad, and dangerous to know, creates havoc wherever he goes, much to the despair of the three women in his life - his sister, his mother, and his mistress. When Neville Chamberlain declares war on Germany, it seems the perfect opportunity for more action and adventure. So Basil follows the call to arms and sets forth to enjoy his finest hour - as a war hero. Basil's instincts for self-preservation come to the fore as he insinuates himself into the Ministry of Information and a little-known section of Military Security.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Wickedly Funny
- By Chelz on 07-25-19
By: Evelyn Waugh
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My Friend Anne Frank
- The Inspiring and Heartbreaking True Story of Best Friends Torn Apart and Reunited Against All Odds
- By: Hannah Pick-Goslar, Dina Kraft
- Narrated by: Alix Dunmore
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 118
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 105
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Story5 out of 5 stars 104
In 1933, Hannah Pick-Goslar and her family fled Nazi Germany to live in Amsterdam, where she struck up a close friendship with her next-door neighbor, an outspoken and fun-loving young girl named Anne Frank. For several years, the inseparable pair enjoyed a carefree childhood of games, sleepovers, and treats with the other children in their neighborhood of Rivierenbuurt. But in 1942, Hannah and Anne's lives abruptly changed forever.
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5 out of 5 stars
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the missing piece to Anne’s story and the complete picture of Hannah’s
- By Wilson on 07-13-23
By: Hannah Pick-Goslar, and others
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Royal
- By: Danielle Steel
- Narrated by: Nick Afka Thomas
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,945
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,710
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,704
As the war rages on in the summer of 1943, causing massive destruction and widespread fear, the King and Queen choose to quietly send their youngest daughter, Princess Charlotte, to live with a trusted noble family in the country. Despite her fiery, headstrong nature, the princess' fragile health poses far too great a risk for her to remain in war-torn London.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Could barely finish it
- By Dana Baffuto on 09-12-20
By: Danielle Steel
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The War Nurses: A Moving Wartime Romance Saga Full of Heart
- The War Nurses Series
- By: Lizzie Page
- Narrated by: Marian Hussey
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 76
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 72
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Story4 out of 5 stars 71
You will love every moment of this absolutely brilliant wartime saga, perfect for fans of Diney Costeloe, Soraya M. Lane, and Nadine Dorries. As war takes its toll, the love and care of two brave young nurses become everything to the wounded soldiers they tend... 1914. Two plucky young nurses pledge to help the war effort: Mairi, a wholesome idealist hoping to leave behind her past and Elsie, a glamorous single mother with a weakness for handsome soldiers. Despite their differences, the pair become firm friends.
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2 out of 5 stars
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I really really wanted to like this book...
- By Teresa M. Thornborough on 09-26-19
By: Lizzie Page
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Servants' Hall
- A Real Life Upstairs, Downstairs Romance
- By: Margaret Powell
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 308
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 271
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Story4 out of 5 stars 274
Margaret Powell's Below Stairs became a sensation among listeners reveling in the luxury and subtle class warfare of Masterpiece Theatre's hit television series Downton Abbey. Now in the sequel Servants' Hall, Powell tells the true story of Rose, the under-parlourmaid to the Wardham Family at Redlands, who took a shocking step: She eloped with the family's only son, Mr. Gerald.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Memoir of a Bygone Era
- By Michelle N. Lynch on 04-08-15
By: Margaret Powell
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The Splendid and the Vile
- A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: John Lee, Erik Larson
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11,897
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 10,184
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10,105
On Winston Churchill’s first day as prime minister, Adolf Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next 12 months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons. It was up to Churchill to hold his country together and persuade President Franklin Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally - and willing to fight to the end. In The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson shows how Churchill taught the British people "the art of being fearless."
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4 out of 5 stars
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John Lee’s narration is a struggle
- By Leslie Rathjens on 03-05-20
By: Erik Larson
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Mary Churchill’s War
- The Wartime Diaries of Churchill’s Youngest Daughter
- By: Mary Churchill, Emma Soames - editor, Erik Larson - introduction
- Narrated by: Beth Eyre, Emma Soames
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
In 1939, seventeen-year-old Mary found herself in an extraordinary position at an extraordinary time: it was the outbreak of World War II and her father, Winston Churchill, had been appointed First Lord of the Admiralty; within months he would become prime minister. The young Mary Churchill was uniquely placed to observe this remarkable historical moment, and her diaries—most never published until now—provide an immediate view of the great events of the war, as well as intimate moments with her father. These diaries also capture what it was like to be a young woman during wartime.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Love Mary Soames
- By Robert on 11-21-22
By: Mary Churchill, and others