The real story of women in the 1960s- Flower Power, the Pill, Miniskirts . . . Tupperware and ideal homes
Virginia Nicholson was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, grew up in Yorkshire and Sussex, and studied at Cambridge University. She lived abroad in France and Italy, then worked as a documentary researcher for the BBC. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, her books include the acclaimed social histories Among the Bohemians, Singled Out, Millions Like Us, and Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes. She is married with three grown-up children and lives in Sussex.
Virginia Nicholson is one of the great social historians of our
time, and How Was It For You? is another jewel in her crown. No one
else makes makes history this fun
*Amanda Foreman*
They say that if you remember the 1960s you weren't really there.
But if you really weren't, then the next best thing is to read this
fascinating book. With the meticulous attention worthy of a Vidal
Sassoon haircut, Virginia Nicholson has shaped her dazzling
kaleidoscope of facts, feelings and observations, into a
razor-sharp account of the women who lived through that tumultuous
decade
*Juliet Nicolson*
Essential reading for all those who lived through it, and for those
who came after
*Marina Lewycka, author of A Short History of Tractors in
Ukrainian*
Intimate, immersive, often moving, How Was It For You? subtly but
powerfully subverts complacent male assumptions about a legendary
decade
*David Kynaston*
How Was It For You? brings it all back. As always Virginia
Nicholson's book is full of fascinating history and fascinating new
material. It makes it feel like the Sixties have never been away,
which they never have been, as far as I'm concerned. Wonderful
*Hunter Davies*
A hugely ambitious, kaleidoscope of a book, written in a
sympathetic but also hard-headed tone that captures squalor and
tragedy as well as glamour
*Richard Vinen, author of The Long '68*
Virginia Nicholson's social history of the lives of women during
the 1960s is an absorbing study of an extraordinary age.
Beautifully written and intensively researched, it covers a wide
range of characters and many levels of society, uncovering with
remarkable perspicacity a world of rebellion and change. I am sure
How Was It for You? will remain a vital study for many years to
come
*Selina Hastings*
Written with verve, wit and empathy, this account of the 1960s
skilfully interweaves the lives of individual women with broader
social and cultural changes. Virginia Nicholson nudges the reader
to reconsider the well- beaten tracks and to reflect upon
out-of-the-way experiences. Best of all How Was It For You? neither
idealises nor excoriates the bouncy, controversial decade
*Sheila Rowbotham*
Every baby boomer should read this great and wonderfully revelatory
book if only to shout, 'Ah yes, that's exactly what it was like for
me!'
*Anne Sebba, author of Les Parisiennes*
For those of us who missed the 60's, Virginia Nicholson catapults
this era to roaring, authentic life. Rich with intimate voices and
a keen edged analysis of the public perceptions at work, this book
brilliantly evokes the struggle between the urgent change and the
heavily freighted forces of tradition that defined this singularly
compelling decade. Read it. It is unputdownable
*Priya Parmar*
A tremendous achievement... a triumph of research and organisation
- but also of sympathy
*Observer on Millions Like Us*
An important and humane book of female social history
*The Times on Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes*
A ground-breaking book, richly nuanced with titbits of information,
insight and understanding
*Daily Mail on Singled Out*
Virginia Nicholson is the outstanding recorder of British lives in
the twentieth century. She has told us how it was for British women
- and therefore of course for men and children - in the twentieth
century. The formidable research and sympathetic understanding of
so many different lives make this account of the 1960s - that
swinging, sexy, revolutionary decade - the most vivid and moving of
all her works. A fascinating decade, a fascinating book
*Carmen Callil, author of Bad Faith*
I loved this. Yes, the 1960s were good fun, sometimes. But Virginia
Nicholson forensically unpicks what "promiscuity" really meant for
flower-chicks, fearful of seeming un-cool. They were perpetuating a
society as patriarchal and phallocentric as ever - even in the
counter-culture. I was there, and she's right. Amazingly right
about so many things. Roll on the 1970s when things did change -
but that's for another of her excellent books
*Valerie Grove, author of Laurie Lee*
Sparklingly readable . . . Having read Nicholson's magisterial and
sensuous overview of the decade, I feel I'm floating above the
Sixties (a bit like Lucy in the Sky) and looking down on them with
a new understanding
*The Times*
The stories are terrific
*Financial Times*
This vivid comprehensive study brought so many memories flooding
back to me! It's a treat for those of us who were around in the
sixties, and delightfully instructive for those who weren't
*Dame Jacqueline Wilson*
Sparkling . . . there is a wonderfully diverse range of voices . .
. we have a long way to go, but reading this book made me grateful
for how far we have come
*The Sunday Times*
Clever . . . absorbing
*Daily Mail*
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
