The Best Days of Our Lives : School Life in Post-War Britain

Following the disruption, hardship, and challenges of the Second World War, the postwar years brought a sense of optimism and excitement, with families at last enjoying peacetime. This new book follows the lives of the nation's schoolchildren through the two decades following the war years, recalling what it was like for those experiencing the creation of a new school system; a system underpinned by the introduction of the 11 plus exam and the provision of free secondary education for all. Combining personal reminiscences with a lively description of what was going on in the wider world of British education, Simon Webb provides a vivid and entertaining picture of school life during in the 1940s and '50s which is sure to bring back nostalgic memories for all who remember the best days of their lives. "Following the disruption, hardship and challenges of the Second World War, the post-war years brought a sense of optimism and excitement, with families at last enjoying peacetime. This new book follows the lives of the nation's schoolchildren through the two decades following the war years, recalling what it was like for those experiencing the creation of a new school system; a system underpinned by the introduction of the 11 plus exam and the provision of free secondary education for all. Combining personal reminiscences with a lively description of what was going on in the wider world of British education, Simon Webb provides a vivid and entertaining picture of school life during the 1940s and '50s which is sure to bring back nostalgic memories for all who remember the best days of theirlives"--Back cover Eighth-century martyr St Boniface, tennis player and TV presenter Sue Barker, painter Sir Joshua Reynolds, scholar Sir Thomas Bodley, actor Sir Donald Sinden, Boer War commander Sir Redvers Buller, radio and TV presenter Ed Stewart and rould-the-world yachtsman Sir Francis Chichester are among personalities through the ages who have been born in Devon. The county can claim many more who were either born or lived here for a major part of their lives, including Scott of the Antarctic, Agatha Christie, Parson Jack Russell (of terrier fame) and Wayne Sleep. The Elizabethan explorers Sir Francis Dr Following the disruption, hardship and challenges of the Second World War, the post-war years brought a sense of optimism and excitement, with families at last enjoying peacetime. This new book follows the lives of the nation's schoolchildren through the two decades following the war years, recalling what it was like for those experiencing the creation of the new school system; a system underpinned by the introduction of the 11 plus exam and the provision of free secondary education for all