Eyewitness: 1950-1959 (BBC Radio Collection)

Joanna Bourke

ISBN 10: 0563530952 ISBN 13: 9780563530954

Publisher: BBC Audiobooks Ltd, 2005

Synopsis

Authentic voices from the past illustrate this unique history of the twentieth century, written by Joanna Bourke and presented by Tim Pigott-Smith. "Eyewitness" provides a rare and fascinating opportunity to hear the events of the century described by those who saw them happen. A wealth of BBC archive recordings, some never previously broadcast, is interwoven with an illuminating commentary by the historian Joanna Bourke. Published in ten volumes, "Eyewitness" examines the role and the life of the British people in each decade of the century. In 1951, the Festival of Britain celebrated a more egalitarian and peaceful society. Nevertheless young men were still called on to fight as conflicts erupted in Malaya, Korea, Cyprus and Suez. Then, as the nuclear threat increased, protester took to the streets and CND was born. This was the era of angry young men, literate rebels against the old order: also of the Teddy Boy, creator of distinctive fashion, but representing a culture of violence and discrimination as seen in the Notting Hill race riots. Rock-and-roll caused riots of a different kind but produced Britain's first true pop stars. Alan Sillitoe, John Osborne, Joan Bakewell, Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard recall aspects of the decade, as do National Servicemen, Teddy Boys and the black community of Notting Hill. Thought-provoking and moving, these are the voices of the past, speaking to the present.

About this title

Review

"A wonderful idea and excellently executed ..best possible use of the medium and a great narrator" -- The Independent

"Eyewitness is a treasure trove of lost accents and cadences..." -- The Observer

"This must be as close to the horse’s mouth that history gets." -- The Guardian

"...mines the BBC’s sound archives to produce what will surely become the greatest oral history series... -- The Times

From the Publisher

The beginning of the decade must have seemed a wonderful opportunity for the country to throw off those wintry post-war years of shortages and austerity.

The Festival of Britain symbolised this desire in 1951, in a collective effort of national goodwill. There is a heartbreaking optimism in the voices of the children singing ‘Together we’ll build tomorrow today’ around the Festival Fire on a bomb site near St. Paul’s Cathedral.
The recordings from the South Bank have a charm and modesty, a hard-won joie de vivre, as people marvel at the Skylon, laugh at Heath Robinson’s eccentric machines and enjoy the simple pleasures of eating and dancing out of doors. The millionth visitor – Betty Dark – and her fiancé were clearly overwhelmed as they were treated to sherry, steak, fried eggs and champagne. They couldn’t finish it; austerity and self-denial was a way of life by then.
It’s difficult not to feel sorry for the Labour Government and its tiny majority. All its plans and sacrifices were derailed by the expense of the Korean War and it simply ran out of steam. The voices of the British soldiers who fought in Korea are distinctive: there is a clear class difference between officers and men, but they all share a kind of laconic heroism. Austerity was clearly good training for captivity as British troops coped with awful conditions in POW camps much better than their American allies. The true nature of the Korean experience is marvellously evoked by perhaps the finest radio journalists of their time, James Cameron and Rene Cutforth.

Civilians in uniform – National Servicemen – have predictably mixed stories to tell. Boredom was the worst enemy but there were plenty of places to see action too. Britain’s colonial difficulties in Malaya, Cyprus and Kenya have produced graphic memories, and not just from those in khaki. Britons living and working in these countries were also on the front line. Mrs Raynes-Simpson in Kenya describes hand-to-hand fighting with Mau Mau attackers, while in Malaya Mrs. Lucy, often alone with two small children, lovingly talks of her skill with a Bren gun.
At home for a time things seemed rather more dull. For one woman the biggest shock of the Fifties was seeing an ironing board on stage at the Royal Court Theatre and even worse, standing next to it, a woman in a slip. In Look Back in Anger Osborne’s lovely bile caught the mood of the country, railing against a kind of moribund establishment that was so exposed in the Suez fiasco. People were clearly polarised between Eden’s suave shiftiness and Aneurin Bevan’s mocking outrage. One cause worth fighting for, or at least marching for, was nuclear disarmament. The voices on the road to Aldermaston have all the sincerity that the political establishment had lost.

The decade came to an end with a very different Britain, a more sophisticated country with motorways, premium bonds and home-grown rock and roll, all the products of a new affluence. But new tensions had also surfaced. The Notting Hill race riots revealed an unpleasant but enduring seam of British urban intolerance which could not be ignored. This would surface again and again in coming decades.

Edition details

• Publisher: BBC Audiobooks Ltd
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0563530952
• ISBN 13: 9780563530954
• Binding: Audio CD
• Language: English