Under Fire | University of Hertfordshire Press Skip to content
search
menu
  • UH Press
  • About UH Press
  • Browse our catalogue
  • How to order
  • Join our mailing list
  • News
  • Events
  • Author biographies
  • Book proposals
  • Open Access
  • Follow us on social media
  • Contact us
  • Ebook options
University of Hertfordshire
University of Hertfordshire Press
  • UH Press
  • About UH Press
  • Browse our catalogue
  • How to order
  • Join our mailing list
  • News
  • Events
  • Author biographies
  • Book proposals
  • Open Access
  • Follow us on social media
  • Contact us
  • Ebook options
Home > Essex Publications Military History > Under Fire
Section menu

Under Fire

Essex and the Second World War 1939-1945

Author: Paul Rusiecki

Price: £18.99/$33.95

"

“This is an excellent first publication from the Essex imprint of the University of Hertfordshire. Paul Rusiecki’s book will be the key reference point for sources and for interpretation by local historians working on Essex in the Second World War, and can serve as a model for other county histories. [It is] a landmark history of a county in World War Two.”

-Sally Sokoloff,
The Local Historian

About the book

“This is an excellent book, its quality testament to both Rusiecki’s authorship and the immensely rich collections housed in Essex Record Office. Rusiecki has marshalled his sources expertly, from diaries and minute books to recordings of oral history interviews and an extensive reading of the local and regional press. The book tells the story of Essex at war expertly, and is not only unmissable for those interested in the county, but will reward the attention of anyone interested in Britain’s home front more generally.” Matthew Grant, Family and Community History

“Rusiecki has explored what happened to Essex during the Second World War in a remarkable manner... this book… [is] very valuable.” Trevor James, The Historian

Under Fire is a meticulous study of the impact of total war on the civilian population of Essex between 1939 and 1945. Paul Rusiecki examines how people coped with the immense stress caused by heavy bombing, the fear of invasion and other anxieties whilst so much was demanded of them by the authorities.

  • More about the book

    The book brings into focus the social, economic, political and religious strains caused by the war. Education was forced to adapt in the face of massive disruption and industry too; the contribution to victory made by firms that switched to war work is analysed.

    A picture emerges through the records kept by individuals of how Essex people viewed wartime events both at home and much further afield – the successes and failures of their own government and the actions of both allies and enemies.

    The experience of war also encompasses aspects that are at odds with traditional views of wartime Britain and the so-called 'Dunkirk spirit'.

    Paul Rusiecki recounts the hostility faced by conscientious objectors, as well as the undercurrents of political disaffection circulating by 1942 which produced a sensational by-election result at Maldon.

    The murkier aspects of the war in Essex – crime and a supposed crisis in morality – are also dealt with in depth. Faced with the most appalling circumstances, most nonetheless found ways of keeping their spirits up, whether that meant reading in air-raid shelters, continuing to flock to the theatre and cinema, or playing football for their factory team.

    Above all, this is the story of how the people of Essex survived the most extraordinary challenges they had ever faced, ultimately emerging with a sense of having earned the right to eradicate the gross inequalities that had marred society for so long.

  • Read a sample chapter

    Read an extract from Under Fire

  • About the Author/s:

    Paul Rusiecki

    Paul Rusiecki is a Yorkshireman by birth and upbringing but has lived in Colchester since 1978. He studied History at the universities of Sheffield and London and completed his PhD at Essex in 1994.

    Other titles by this author

    • Under Fire: Essex and the Second World War 1939-1945
    • The Impact of Catastrophe: The people of Essex and the First World War.

ISBN: 978-1-909291-28-7 Format: Paperback, 320pp Published: May 2015

Other titles you may enjoy

St Albans
St Albans
A Very Dangerous Locality
A Very Dangerous Locality
The Fighting Essex Soldier
The Fighting Essex Soldier
Prostitution in Victorian Colchester
Prostitution in Victorian Colchester

Any questions

Contact us at UH Press if you have any queries or would like to find out more about this book.

Top of page
  • Assembling Enclosure
  • Custom and Commercialisation in English Rural Society
  • Farmers, Consumers, Innovators
  • Under Fire
  • Wearmouth and Jarrow

Contact us

Switchboard

tel +44 (0) 1707 284000

Admissions Office

tel +44 (0) 1707 284800 fax +44 (0) 1707 284870

Email

ask@herts.ac.uk

Postal Address

University of Hertfordshire Hatfield Hertfordshire, UK AL10 9AB

Location by postcode

College Lane Campus: AL10 9AB de Havilland Campus: AL10 9EU Park and Ride: AL10 8HS

© 2023 University of Hertfordshire

  • HR Excellence in Research logo
  • QAA Quality Mark thumbnail
  • Stonewall logo
Top of page