Children of War: The Second World War Through the Eyes of a Generation

by Susan Goodman

The novelist Susan Goodman - herself a child of the Second World War - wanted to commemorate and celebrate the experiences of a special generation before they were lost to history. When she appealed for stories, she was overwhelmed by the response. This remarkable book is the result, a rich tapestry of the dramatic, amusing, poignant and everyday during the 20th century's greatest conflict, through a child's eyes. Its compelling first-hand stories reflect not only British life in the towns, suburbs and countryside, but also the experience of those who arrived as refugees. Matter-of-fact, nostalgic, fresh, funny, tragic, evocative - these voices form a narrative that brings back to life an era that shaped a generation.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Susan Goodman is the H. Fletcher Brown Chair of Humanities Professor of English at the University of Delaware.

Reviews

[Wendy Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I cannot remember where I bought this book - perhaps just a random find at a secondhand store. It has been on my shelves for years and years; I am reading it now because my gut feel is that there are some things experienced during and learned from WWII that are applicable in this current pandemic. Some initial observations, based on the book (which focuses on British children, so a narrow group), are:

-Every child (and every person) had a different experience. Many kids flourished during the war (e.g., poorer, inner-city kids who were evacuated to kind families on rural farms, where food and nature was plentiful); maybe more than what we would expect.
-Children seemed to do better when they were surrounded by resilient people who got on with things, but without being devoid of emotion. Humour and fun was often mentioned.
-Community played a big part - so many of the stories talked about interactions with neighbours - almost as much as family.

War is different to a pandemic - transmission risk means interacting with your community is difficult or impossible - but overall I think reading these experiences of children in WWII is a good reminder of how resilient most kids are, and how much people can get through.

Not the best written book and in some parts felt like a lot of overlapping anecdotes/stories, but still instructive.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. Despite the subject, it was an easy read. Some heartwarming stories, some heartbreaking. A lovely compilation of experiences.

[Audry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Wonderful stories of the second world war - some sad, some sweet, some scary. Many, many reminisces of children who lived during that time. I learned so much from this book. I realize there is so much I never knew. My heart goes out to all of those who lived through all the daily bombings, nightly blackouts, rationing, hunger, cold, evacuations, loss of parents, children, friends and neighbors, V1s and V2s, doodlebugs, and so many other things. Reading this book made me laugh and cry. Thank you, Susan, for writing it.

[Richard Danks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting account of what it was like living before, during and after the second world war. I was a very young child who lived during the blitz in Londoon and later evacuated until the completion of the war. I therefore didn't learn a lot but I highly recommend the book to those not acquainted with that period

[Kathleen Hagen]

Children of War: The Second World War Through the Eyes of a Generation, by susan Goodman. A.

Susan Goodman realized that the generation of British children who survived WWII were fast dwindling. No one had told the story of that generation of children, how they survived the war, what it was like. So she set about collecting memories of aging adults as to what the war was like for them as children. This is a marvelous book full of memories: the constant bombings over the coastal towns of England and over London during the early part of the war, the “blitz, Germany’s last gasp at quelling the hopes of the allies, staying for hours in bomb shelters,seeing homes and buildings and people destroyed by bombs, rationing, victory gardens, children being evacuated to the country, the experiences, both good and bad that they had, the things that have shaped their lives since the war, like thriftiness. It’s really a very good book. My only problem was the Anne Dover, the narrator, spoke far too slowly. I could have done with it a good bit faster. But it’s well worth reading.

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Audiobook version]

I liked the variety of this! The "children" of war ranged from toddlers (whose first memories were of air raid sirens and being carried to an Anderson shelter) all the way through to teenagers and young people approaching twenty who were trying to deal with first jobs and first love on top of everything else.

There were plenty of stories about being evacuated, or trying to manage on rations, but the tales that really stuck with me were the ones of near misses. Obviously someone who died wouldn't be around to tell the story, but the random nature of death in such a time sent shivers down my spine. There was one boy who was sent to the shops to buy milk when the sirens went off. The shopkeeper told everyone to come down to the cellar, but the boy refused and ran all the way home. Later, he learnt that a bomb had fallen directly on the shop and everyone in the cellar had been killed.

Oh, and I found it interesting that so many people of that generation blame their lasting fear of enclosed spaces on having to wear gas masks as children.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an artful compilation of letters written by survivors of WWII who lived in England and were children during the war. Boy, it was quite a challenge for the entire family and much different from the challenges for families here in the U.S.
Both positive as well as the expected negative experiences are related by these former youngsters. It is divided into different sections. Some of the sections contain information and detail that becomes repetitive but that is OK. And some sections like the one on food and rationing was interesting to contemplate.

[stan · Rating 5 out of 5]

THis is my story I grew up in this era marvellous recollections

[Bec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Memories of people who had been children and teenagers during the second world war. It's wonderfully put together book and hard to put down once you begin reading.