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John Willis

The People’s War

Unheard Stories: Life on the Battlefront and at Home in World War II

“There was a German bomber flying right towards us – a Dornier, one of their biggest. It was so low we could see the pilot flying it and the gunner in the nose of the bomber pointing his machine gun at us…” – schoolboy in Kent, during the Battle of Britain.

“My legs pressed harder around my father’s waist; my arms nearly choked him. The humming of Japanese aircraft was loud enough for everyone to hear now, and panic spread like ink on a blotter.” – child saying goodbye to her parents, Singapore 1942.

In the early 2000s, the BBC launched its biggest oral history project, recording the lives and experiences of the ordinary people who lived through World War II. It amounted to 47,000 testimonies and over 400 diaries and letters, all of which have remained unexplored in the archives for twenty years – until now. In The People’s War, John Willis reveals untold stories of everyday bravery, moments of terror, and tales of life-affirming community, that guide us through the years of the World War II.

From soldiers in North Africa and prisoners of war in East Asia, to evacuees in the British countryside and women in the factories, The People’s War is a truly ambitious and comprehensive journey through a devastating and pivotal period of our history, as you’ve never read before. Follow the remarkable stories of ordinary individuals who lived, fought, grieved, loved, and survived through the war.

John Willis is a historian and author of Nagasaki: The Forgotten Prisoners. He studied history at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. One of Britain’s best-known television executives, he held posts as Director of Programmes at Channel 4 and Director of Factual and Learning at the BBC. In 2012, he was elected Chair of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). He is currently Chair of Governors at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London.

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