Millions Like Us

Women's Lives in the Second World War

By: Virginia Nicholson

Narrated by: Patience Tomlinson, Annie Aldington, Rachel Bavidge, Julie Maisey, Georgina Sutton

Length: 19 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Virginia Nicholson's Millions Like Us: Women's Lives in the Second World War. A special multi-voice recording featuring five actresses that bring to life the hundreds of personal testimonies, diary entries and books that make up this superb study. Read by Patience Tomlinson, Annie Aldington, Rachel Bavidge, Julie Maisey and Georgina Sutton.

In 1942 Cora Johnston is grieving over the death of her young husband, torpedoed in the Atlantic; Aileen Morris is intercepting Luftwaffe communications during the siege of Malta - and Clara Milburn, whose son was captured after Dunkirk, is waiting, and waiting ...

We tend to see the Second World War as a man's war, featuring Spitfire crews and brave deeds on the Normandy beaches. But in conditions of "Total War" millions of women - in the Services and on the Home Front - demonstrated that they were cleverer, more broad-minded and altogether more complex than anyone had ever guessed.

In Millions Like Us Virginia Nicholson tells the story of the women's war, through a host of individual women's experiences. She tells how they loved, suffered, laughed, grieved and dared; how they re-made their world in peacetime. And how they would never be the same again ...

©2011 Virginia Nicholson (P)2012 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Passionate, fascinating, profoundly sympathetic." (Artemis Cooper, Evening Standard)

"A deeply moving account of female courage both at home and overseas during the six brutal years of war...the joy of Virginia Nicholson's book is the way she has plaited scores of individual stories into a richly textured account of the many forms that female courage can take. This story belongs to us all." (Kathryn Hughes, The Mail On Sunday)

"An acclaimed account of this period... a rich seam of social history." (Cassandra Jardine, Daily Telegraph)

So much interesting information

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes.
If you have an interest in historical minutae, what the sentiments of the day were for this era, Virginia Nicholson presents a unique viewpoint.

What did you like best about this story?

The variety of women interviewed, their various economic situations, and how the Second World war affected them differently. For some, it was a leg up in the world, for some, a glaring opening into reality.

What about the narrators???s performance did you like?

Her accents were very well done, and her male officer voices brought to mind the classic slightly portly British officer.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. As a matter of fact, some should probably be digested slowly.

Any additional comments?

There were so many things in this book that opened my eyes to what women in Britain did during the war. I had no idea there was conscription for women, among other things. Not all parts of the book were what you could say enjoyable, the degree of constant unrelenting stress from all parts of living through the times was brought home very well. Some of the jobs they did were stimulating, others so abhorant they would never be forgotten.

A fascinating account of our history.

Would you consider the audio edition of Millions Like Us to be better than the print version?

Hollywood films of WW2 tend to sanitize the hardship families endured. This book highlights daily traumas of enemy bombing of the cities, shortage of household items we now take for granted and should be on book group lists to remind us of our social history.

What was most disappointing about Virginia Nicholson’s story?

One hoped for a happy ending, but wars do not always have a happy ending for many families.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

The change in voice accents emphasised the different characters making them more realistic.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Thought Provoking

What made the experience of listening to Millions Like Us the most enjoyable?

The different adventures of the amazing women who lived in the time. Each woman and many of the men are done by different narrators which is fabulous

Who was your favorite character and why?

The amazing women who gave so much for all of us today

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Her voice is amazingly soothing and holds your attention

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Just made methinks about what the women in the story went through so we could have what we take for granted today

Women in wartime

I haven't quite finished yet as I'm listening to only a few chapters each hearing. But I will say this why British women were so enamoured of the US soldiers I'll never know. They were 'tarts', US soldiers were immoral, disgusting, loose, disloyal, racist, tarts or even male whores as the term defines. I mean really I would've kept my axe nearby if I had to have any of them near me! I mean one incident where a young secretary to a US officer was asked by US soldier to have a coffee with him and she said simply 'it would be a pleasure', a simple, gracious comment, little realising that he was suggesting she have sex with him. The poor woman was appalled and I don't blame her at all. What they were these soldiers were sleazy, creepy, pieces of crap! Let's hope the sleaze ended up getting what was coming to him. Obnoxious to say the least!!
Anyway, that chapter has ended and now I'm with a young woman trying to break codes and find the 'Huns' before they attack.