Mass Observation
What was on the mind of the average Brit in the mid-to-late 1930s? Did things feel then as they do now—that an absolutely cataclysmic world war was on the horizon? And yet, did they, as most people seem to do today, refuse to believe their leaders could be quite so stupid? Were they confident a resolution would be found that didn’t involve tens of millions of corpses? I’m afraid I don’t share that confidence, if that is indeed what they were thinking. It’s a shame people weren’t blogging back then. But they were writing diaries. I came across the Mass-Observation project not long ago and must look into the content it produced. I bet most of it is dull as dishwater, but isn’t that what makes it interesting? Normal, everyday, boring life from a fascinating, increasingly distant time. Whilst it seems absurd now, I bet plenty of people thought Hitler had a point, or that he was Europe’s saviour. At that point in time, he hadn’t yet murdered millions; he was just on a bit of a ra...