{"title":"Books by Tessa Dunlop","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781035402465","title":"Elizabeth and Philip","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A riveting take on an extraordinary relationship' - Richard Eden, Daily Mail\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A fresh and original approach' - Hugo Vickers, Royal Biographer\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe was 'sugar pink' innocence; he was a handsome war hero. Both had royal blood coursing through their veins. The marriage of Britain's Princess Elizabeth to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten in November 1947 is remembered as the beginning of an extraordinary, lifelong union but success was not guaranteed. \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eElizabeth and Philip: A Story of Young Love, Marriage and Monarchy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e plunges us back into the 1940s when a teenage princess fell in love with a foreign prince. Cue fears of a flirtatious 'Greek' fortune hunter stealing off with Britain's crown jewel and Philip's supporters scrambling to reframe him as a good fit for the Royal Family. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on original newspaper archives and the opinions of Elizabeth and Philip's contemporaries, historian Dr Tessa Dunlop discovers a post-war world on the cusp of major change. Unprecedented polling on Philip's suitability was a harbinger of pressures to come for a couple whose marriage was branded the ultimate global fairytale. Theirs was a partnership like no other. Six years after Elizabeth promised to be an obedient wife Philip got down on bended knee at the coronation and committed himself as the Queen's 'liege man of life and limb.' \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePublished 75 years after their marriage, this deeply touching history explores the ups and downs, the public appeal and the private tensions that defined an extraordinary relationship. The high stakes involved might have devoured a less committed pair - but Elizabeth and Philip shared a common purpose, one higher even than marriage, with roots much deeper than young love. Happy and Glorious, for better or for worse, how did their union succeed? Monarchy was the magic word.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43128835834034,"sku":"9781035402465","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781035402465.jpg?v=1786017232"},{"product_id":"9781472282118","title":"Army Girls","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Wise, witty, compassionate and personal: Tessa Dunlop writes just the best kind of history about women' - Lucy Worsley, OBE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'You'll feel the shock of finding these amazing characters are still among us - I was gripped from the first page' - Jeremy Vine\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003eArmy Girls\u003c\/i\u003e is the intimate story of the final few women who served in World War II and are still alive to tell their tale. They were female soldiers in a war Britain wanted to fight without conscripting women. It was a vain hope, by December 1941 for the first time in British history women were called up and a generation of girls came of age in khaki, serving king and country. Barbara trained to drive army-style in giant trucks and Grace swapped her servant's pinafore for battledress and a steel hat, Martha turned down officer status for action on a gun-site and Olivia won the Croix de Guerre in France.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCommemorating the 80th anniversary of conscription for women, \u003ci\u003eArmy Girls\u003c\/i\u003e captures remarkable stories from the last surviving veterans who served in Britain's female army and brings to life a pivotal moment in British history. Precious memories and letters are entwined in a rich narrative that travels back in time and sheds new light on being young, female and at war.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUniquely this moving Second World War memoir is embedded in the present day. Written in the midst of a global pandemic, the parallels and paradoxes between two very different national crises are explored in a book that honours the women who fought on in extreme youth and now once more in great old age.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43204495278258,"sku":"9781472282118","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781472282118_2dd05409-e594-4199-a85e-46e748dcb9d0.jpg?v=1786020664"},{"product_id":"9780008713140","title":"Lest We Forget","description":"\u003cp\u003eA moving account of how war is remembered – and by whomWinner of the Military History Matters Book of the Year Gold Award 2026'Impressive.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA hundred individual histories, skillfully assembled, built into a poignant meditation on why they still matter' David OlusogaBestselling historian Tessa Dunlop travels the length and breadth of the United Kingdom on a quest to uncover a story of national warring and national mourning, of fighting each other and of fighting together.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlong the way, she summons a stellar cast of veterans, military experts and families of the fallen to reveal what our monuments and war heroes say about us, both then and now. Why did Scotland take nearly 600 years to commemorate its most famous freedom fighter? When did Wellington become anti-Establishment? Who are the Glorious Dead? Can the Cenotaph stay above politics? And how do you commemorate contested, asymmetrical wars?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThrough powerful veteran testimony from individuals such as Falklands hero Simon Weston and HRH The Duke of Kent, Tessa brings to life the pride and the pain of commemoration across these isles. Lest We Forget, freedom is not free.'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this wonderfully incisive, moving and timely book about commemoration, Dunlop breathes life into 100 British monuments – some famous, others less so – that together reveal our island story. A stunning achievement.'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSaul David\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57685974647157,"sku":"9780008713171","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":56222035902837,"sku":"9780008713140","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780008713171.jpg?v=1792599244"},{"product_id":"the-bletchley-girls","title":"The Bletchley Girls","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Lively . . . in giving us the daily details of their lives in the women's own voices Dunlop does them and us a fine service'\u003ci\u003e New Statesman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Dunlop is engaging in her personal approach. Her obvious feminine empathy with the venerable ladies she spoke to gives her book an immediacy and intimacy.' \u003ci\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'An in-depth picture of life in Britain's wartime intelligence centre . . . The result is fascinating, and is made all the more touching by the developing friendships between Dunlop and her interviewees.' \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bletchley Girls\u003c\/i\u003e weaves together the lives of fifteen women who were all selected to work in Britain's most secret organisation - Bletchley Park. It is their story, told in their voices; Tessa met and talked to 15 veterans, often visiting them several times. Firm friendships were made as their epic journey unfolded on paper.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe scale of female involvement in Britain during the Second World War wasn't matched in any other country. From 8 million working women just over 7000 were hand-picked to work at Bletchley Park and its outstations. There had always been girls at the Park but soon they outnumbered the men three to one.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA refugee from Belgium, a Scottish debutante, a Jewish 14-year-old, and a factory worker from Northamptonshire - the Bletchley Girls confound stereotypes. But they all have one common bond, the war and their highly confidential part in it. In the middle of the night, hunched over meaningless pieces of paper, tending mind-blowing machines, sitting listening for hours on end, theirs was invariably confusing, monotonous and meticulous work, about which they could not breathe a word.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy meeting and talking to these fascinating female secret-keepers who are still alive today, Tessa Dunlop captures their extraordinary journeys into an adult world of war, secrecy, love and loss. Through the voices of the women themselves, this is a portrait of life at Bletchley Park beyond the celebrated code-breakers, it's the story of the girls behind Britain's ability to consistently out-smart the enemy, and an insight into the women they have become.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57484397642101,"sku":"9781444795745","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781444795745.jpg?v=1786266486"},{"product_id":"last-women-standing","title":"Last Women Standing","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe ten women in this book were born between the wars, they grew up in the devil's decade and survived and served in history's most fatal conflict - together they have lived more than 1000 years. Grace added on her age to enter the army\/ATS\u003ci\u003e: 'I joined up cos I was lonely. I was a domestic servant at 14 and thought fighting a war had to be better than that.'\u003c\/i\u003e Hannah was a Lumberjill: '\u003ci\u003ewe was bombed out and you had to do something. How 'ard could chopping trees be? Mind them axes were sharp. My friend took her toes off.'\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCast under the shadow of World War II, in a Britain where teenage girls did what they were told, \u003ci\u003eLast Women Standing\u003c\/i\u003e is a series of deeply personal stories narrated by ten centenarians looking back on young lives defined by service, secrecy and endurance.'  Manette swapped the Land Army for the Wrens: '\u003ci\u003eI was followed in Egypt\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003ci\u003eBecause I spoke fluent French they thought I was spy.' \u003c\/i\u003eFANY Joyce joined the SOE support network\u003ci\u003e. 'I worked on the transmitters. It was awful when the line went dead, you knew something dreadful had happened.'\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePoignant and wry, these exceptional veterans served a war machine initially wary of female service that went on to control and conscript unprecedented numbers of women. Today, in a world surrounded by numerous existential threats, their collective voice, curated by award-winning historian Tessa Dunlop, is a powerful reminder that against the odds, a generation of marginalised young women rose to the challenge when Great Britain was fighting for its life. Theirs is an extraordinary story of survival, both then and now.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57682789106037,"sku":"9780349149998","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57593926680949,"sku":"9780349149981","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-tessa-dunlop.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}