{"title":"Books by Mike Brown","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781803993447","title":"The Ration Book Diet","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIn 1939, Britain was preparing for war. As well as building aeroplanes and digging Anderson shelters, this meant managing food supplies for the home front.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Ministry of Food rose to the challenge, introducing rationing, encouraging the nation to dig for victory, and issuing cookbooks and health advice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing inspiration from Britain’s ‘finest hour’, when the thrifty British housewife had to grow her own veg, stretch the butter ration and still keep her family fighting fit, this is both a social history of wartime dining and a collection of over sixty delicious and healthy seasonal recipes with a vintage twist.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56307270254965,"sku":"9781803993447","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781803993447_145eeb89-2f99-42c1-8791-998ac7d6ddf8.jpg?v=1786034603"},{"product_id":"9781803999517","title":"The Day Peace Broke Out","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAt 3 p.m. on 8 May 1945, Prime Minister Winston Churchill made a long-awaited speech in which he officially declared the war in Europe to be over.\u003c\/strong\u003e After six bitter years of conflict, however, perceptions of how victory over Nazism was to be celebrated and what post-war Britain should look like were very different from the visions of the people and the politicians in 1939.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with photographs, adverts, posters and cartoons, \u003cem\u003eThe Day Peace Broke Out\u003c\/em\u003e describes the VE-Day celebrations in Britain and across the world through the memories of those who were there, combined with contemporary newspaper and magazine articles. Mike Brown, an authority on the British Home Front of the Second World War, charts the nation’s progressive change of heart from defeatism to growing confidence of certain victory. He looks at the immediate post-VE-Day period and the celebration of victory over Japan in August 1945.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat should have been a story with a happy ending concludes with the harsh realisation of post-war austerity and the increasing disillusionment that led many Britons to conclude that they had won the war but lost the peace.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56307586761077,"sku":"9781803999517","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781803999517_74c88eb6-2e0c-4c4f-9d1b-2faf3904c133.jpg?v=1786027464"},{"product_id":"9781841655390","title":"Life in the 1950s","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe 1950s began in the shadow of War. In Britain, food was still rationed as the country strove to pay off the huge debts that were the legacy of war.  However by the end of the decade, the British had ‘never had it so good’, as prime Minister Harold MacMillan told them.  In this book, Mike Brown looks at some of the major aspects of living in Britain at that time of change; how ordinary people lived, worked and played, of the experiences of childhood, and of a new group - teenagers.   How did people spend their new-found wealth, what they ate, wore, watched and listened to; the stories and people who made the headlines - Royals, politicians, and stars of music and screen, in an age overshadowed by the Cold War.  The book will appeal to those who lived through it, and to those wishing to know more about life for their parents and grand-parents.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56307661930869,"sku":"9781841655390","price":6.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781841655390_b519e4db-cf99-4fcd-852b-ed8043812107.jpg?v=1786028003"},{"product_id":"32-days","title":"32 Days","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e32 Days\u003c\/em\u003e is a journey through the trials and tribulations of a young mother’s fight against cancer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter getting married and having a family, Karen felt like she had everything she could possibly want or need, unaware that this dreadful disease would come into her life and bring her to her knees.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter six-and-a-half years of battling, she continued to fight and struggle, even during her final months when the inevitable approached. On 23 November 2024, she turned to her husband and said, “I don’t want to die before Christmas”.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere is her fight to make it to Christmas, and to make sure that her son and daughter wouldn’t be left with the memory of their mummy dying in the lead up to Christmas.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA moving memoir sprinkled with moments of humour, desperation, and a husband’s deep love and respect for the challenges his wife had to endure. An inspiring, beautiful human who was taken far too soon, but who has left behind an incredible legacy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57507704308085,"sku":"9781806348336","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781806348336.jpg?v=1791213847"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-mike-brown.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}