Giving a resume of the Girl Guide movement, the book concentrates on the period of 1939-1945 looking at how the Girl Guides were involved in the war effort. And how involved they were; running messages for MI5, working for the Polish underground or helping with the wounded and the homeless. Girl Guide training made for excellent recruits into the services and, as we follow the women reporting their history, an excellent training for success in life. There’s a lovely flavour of Joyce Grenfell in this cheering book of ordinary heroism, girls in uniforms, jolly girls and awkward girls, girls showing the most tremendous pluck. That and the excitement of discovering so much little known history made me cheer aloud for Janie Hampton’s mother, a guide and a Brown Owl who inspired Jane to write this book.
A completely original history of one of the most extraordinary movements in the world -- the Girl Guides -- and how they helped win the war. The Girl Guides is one of the world's most extraordinary movements: millions of women have been members. But what have the Guides actually achieved, since they began 100 years ago? Do they do more than sell biscuits, sing around campfires, and tie knots? In this constantly surprising book, Janie Hampton shows that Girl Guides have been at the heart of women's equality since the early twentieth century - when they were garnering badges like Electrician and Telegraphist. Exploring modern-day girlhood through this very British institution's effect on global warfare, 'How the Girl Guides Won the War' reveals, for the first time, the dramatic impact that the Guides had on the Second World War. When the Blitz broke out, they dug bomb shelters, grew vegetables and helped millions of evacuated children adjust to new lives in the country. Many were taken as prisoners of war and survived concentration camps. Told by the Guides themselves 'How the Girl Guides Won the War' is packed with rich social history, fond and funny anecdotes, surprising archives, and the lingering taste of smoky tea in a tin mug. Providing a new slant on both the Guide movement, and World War II, Janie Hampton's remarkable book finally gives the Girl Guides the historical attention they deserve.
Janie Hampton is the author of fifteen books including biography, fiction and text books. She has been a journalist in Africa, a producer at the BBC World Service and has written articles for the Sunday Times, The Times, the Independent, the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph and the New Statesman. She has worked in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Zaire, Rwanda and Uganda, living in rural communities, travelling by canoe, bus, river-boat and train.
