Women and Children First: The Fiction of Two World Wars

by Mary Cadogan

Lively, incisive account of the representation of women and children in war fiction, keen to expose humbug and deplore cliché, but to praise wit and sensitivity. First World War writers included are Berta Ruck, Evadne Price, Enid Bagnold, Rebecca West, Winifred Holtby, Vera Brittain, Brenda Girvin, Bessie Marchant, among others.

301 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

An author who has published extensively on the topics of popular and children's fiction - from a study of women in detective novels, to a biography of Richmal Crompton, creator of the Just William and Billy Bunter series - Mary Cadogan took to writing late in life, after a long career, first with the BBC, and then working for Indian philosopher Krishnamurti. She edited the Just William Society Magazine for a number of years, as well as the Story Paper Collectors' Digest, from 1987 through 2005. Cadogan was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Lancaster University in 2009.


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Reviews

[Margaret Conmey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing
Chapters on First World War were better but I think could have emphasised the main themes of the fiction of the era
Probably too big a task ( even in 1970s when book was written) to cover adult and children fiction books relating to both wars
I also found it odd that the authors did not spend more time on the many war time books by female writers which give fascinating details of living during the war, eg DE Stevenson, Angela Thirkell
I assume their books were not fashionable at the time
Also as a fan of EBDs Chalet series it was strange that no mention was made of the Chalet School Peace League, surely unusual and brave for books written during the war