On Sunday Januthe News of the World declared the “ we must be ready to meet a life-and-death challenge”. It is interesting to compare coverage of identical issues and events and to identify political viewpoints and attempts to gain readership of the tense international situation before war broke out. The First Part of this project offers complete runs of each of the newspapers for 1939. They created and fed off the products of popular culture-especially popular music, sports and cinema-and gave the war a human scale by relating events to individuals. These papers played a central role in satisfying the public’s appetite for news and in carrying out the government’s wishes in control morale. These papers show both the hopes and the fears of the British people writ large, Air-Raids, black outs, the destruction of property, evacuation of children, the loss or absence of loved ones, rationing, and conscription all became facts of life. But here-for the first time-are complete runs of these papers including the fashion, sports, entertainments and advertisements, providing countless teaching and research opportunities for those studying social history, journalism and popular culture. Some books have made available selections of front pages, lauding the importance of headlines and pictures in conveying news. For, with a combined circulation of over 23 million by 1948, and a secondary readership far in excess of these figures, the News of the World, The People, the Daily Express, The Daily Mirror, and the Sunday Express reached into the homes of the majority of the British public and played a critical role in shaping public perceptions of the war.Įxtended runs of such papers are only held by a handful of libraries and their physical condition is generally perilous. Most importantly, it is through these papers that we can see how most ordinary people received news of the war. Less august than the papers of record, it is these papers which reveal most about the impact of the war on the home front, the way in which people amused themselves in the face of adversity, and the way in which public morale was kept high through a mixture of propaganda and judicious reporting. Part 1 provides full coverage for 1939 Part 2: 1940 Part 3: 1941 Part 4: 1942-1943 and finally, Part 5 covers 1944-1945.Īt last social historians and students of journalism can consult complete war-time runs of Britain’s popular newspapers in their libraries. The project is organised in five parts and covers the newspapers in chronological sequence. This microfilm publication makes available complete runs the Daily Express, The Daily Mirror, the News of the World, The People, and the Sunday Express for the years 1939 through to 1945. Parts 1 to 5: 1939-1945 (The Daily Express, The Mirror, The News of The World, The People and The Sunday Express)
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