Description
Book SynopsisFirst published in 1989, this is an account of the oldest of traditions. It was called the London Season, and for three centuries it had been a time of fashionable suppers and brilliant balls that introduced England''s most aristocratic and eligible girls to society. Though by 1939 the stately gavottes and minuets had long since given way to waltzes and foxtrots, the cream of young womanhood still curtsied low before the Queen and then went out to dance the night away with the young men they would one day marry.But the Season of 1939 was different: it was to be the last. And like many a finale, it lives on in memory as a lovely, enchanted dream, all the more beautiful for the horror and destruction that would follow so soon.Based on a wealth of first-hand reminiscences, press clippings, and memorabilia,
1939: The Last Season of Peace is a fascinating portrait of this fairy tale about to end. It captures the end of an era as it recreates a world whose inhabitants still bel
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Part One: The Girls from the Stately Homes of England 1 Becoming a Deb is a Difficult Matter: Who Did the Season, and Why? 2 I've Been to London to Look at the Queen 3 The Childhood of the Debs: Preparing to be a Beautiful Lady 4 Change Your Partner, Dance While You Can
Part Two: That Unspeakable Summer Prologue 5 The Last Four Months of Peace: May 6 The Last Three Months of Peace: June 7 The Last Two Months of Peace: July 8 The Last Month of Peace: August
Part Three: The War: Real Phoney and Aftermath 9 This Country is at War with Germany 10 An Excellent Introduction for Life?
Appendix: Slang Expressions Current in 1939 Select Bibliography References
