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Bounded by the Great War on one side and by the looming shadow of the Second World War on the other- the inter-war period has characteristically been portrayed as a time of great and unrelenting depression. In Martin Pughs lively and thought-provoking book- however- the acclaimed historian vividly shows how the British people reacted to the privations of wartime by indulging in leisure and entertainment activities of all kinds - from dancing and cinema going to smoking- football pools and paid holidays. He explodes the myths of a nation of unwed women- revealing that in the 1930s the institution of marriage was reaching its heyday- and points to a rise in real incomes- improvements in diet and health and the spread of cheap luxuries. The result is an extraordinary- engaging work of history that presents us with a fresh perspective and brings out both the strangeness and the familiarity of this point in time....