Secret Diary of a 1970s Secretary

Secret Diary of a 1970s Secretary PDF Author: Sarah Shaw
Publisher: Constable
ISBN: 1472127773
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
Portland Place is the diary of Sarah Shaw for the year of 1971, which she recently uncovered whilst clearing out her loft. Working as a secretary for the BBC at the time, Sarah's diary describes the life of a suburban girl who certainly wasn't 'swinging' but who was, ironically, not only working on a cutting edge BBC survey on sex education but also in the throes of an unlikely affair with middle-aged, working-class, Irish lift attendant, Frank. Sarah talks humorously and frankly about what it was like to be a young, working woman at the time as well as life at the BBC during the 1970s and the difficulties of navigating her first romance. She is funny and self-effacing with a self-knowledge that only few attain. Her innocence and naivety are hugely charming and the diary forms a valuable snapshot of a time not so far away that is now lost to us.

Secret Diary of a 1970s Secretary

Secret Diary of a 1970s Secretary PDF Author: Sarah Shaw
Publisher: Constable
ISBN: 1472127773
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 250

Get Book

Book Description
Portland Place is the diary of Sarah Shaw for the year of 1971, which she recently uncovered whilst clearing out her loft. Working as a secretary for the BBC at the time, Sarah's diary describes the life of a suburban girl who certainly wasn't 'swinging' but who was, ironically, not only working on a cutting edge BBC survey on sex education but also in the throes of an unlikely affair with middle-aged, working-class, Irish lift attendant, Frank. Sarah talks humorously and frankly about what it was like to be a young, working woman at the time as well as life at the BBC during the 1970s and the difficulties of navigating her first romance. She is funny and self-effacing with a self-knowledge that only few attain. Her innocence and naivety are hugely charming and the diary forms a valuable snapshot of a time not so far away that is now lost to us.

Short Skirts and Shorthand

Short Skirts and Shorthand PDF Author: Sarah Shaw
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 9781716802140
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
What was it like to be a secretary in the 1970s? Drawing on the reminiscences of more than 60 women, this book describes their everyday working lives and vividly recreates their world of typewriters, telephones and Tippex. It compares their experiences with their portrayals in popular media and by feminist writers. What emerges is a more nuanced picture, one that is revealing, authentic and amusing. This is a must for former secretaries and anyone with an interest in social history.

Short Skirts And Shorthand: Secretaries In The 1970s

Short Skirts And Shorthand: Secretaries In The 1970s PDF Author: Sarah O. Shaw
Publisher: Sarah Shaw
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
What was it like to be a secretary in the 1970s? Drawing on the reminiscences of more than 60 women, this book describes their everyday working lives from Telex to Tippex, their aspirations, frustrations and achievements. It looks too at how they were seen in the popular media and by feminist writers and considers the accuracy of these portrayals. What emerges is a more nuanced picture, one that is revealing, authentic and amusing, and is a vivid evocation of those times. This book is a must for anyone with an interest in women's social history as well as for former secretaries and office workers. Sarah Shaw worked as a secretary in London throughout the 1970s. Her 'Secret Diary of a 1970s Secretary' was published by Collins in 2016.

1971

1971 PDF Author: Sarah Shaw
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781326180409
Category : Secretaries
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
This is the diary 19-year-old Sarah Shaw kept in 1971 while she was working in her first job as a BBC secretary in the old Langham building in London. It describes her life in the office, at home and at a hostel in Victoria, growing up at a time when 1960s permissiveness challenged 1950s values. But most of all, it's the story of an extraordinary romance between Sarah and an engaging Irishman much older than herself. ""I defy any reader, male or female, not to fall in love with this book. There's a wealth of of observation and detail that will have you either exclaiming in recognition (if this is your period) or gobsmacked (if it's not). But it's the May/September romance that is the delightful heart of this book, and which Sarah Shaw renders with enormous tenderness and humour. It's a rare writer who can convey both innocence and knowingness without spoiling either. What a find!"" (Sarah Harrison http: //www.sarah-harrison.net/) Reviews, extracts etc at http: //1971secretsecretarybbc.blogspot.co.uk/

Isabel

Isabel PDF Author: Isabel Szlavik
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781450201520
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Isabel: The Secret Diary of a Discreet Secretary shares wickedly entertaining anecdotes from a secretary whose job experiences led her to work in three continents from the early 1960s through the 1990s. After a short stint as a fashion model and crooner for a jazz band, Isabel Szlavik decided to pursue what was at the time, the largest, most prestigious, and elegant job category for women around the world. The skills list for a secretary was short: a minimum typing speed of fifty words a minute, a general knowledge of shorthand, and enough patience to handle messy carbons and an electric typewriter. From her first job supporting a missionary who devoted his life to helping the needy to her last role assisting two talented business men, Isabel chronicles the often humorous side of the secretary-boss relationship, how she dealt with a rapidly changing technological world, and handled the many different personalities and cultural backgrounds of the American, Brazilian, German, Italian, Chinese, and French nationals she worked with on a daily basis. Through three continents and many bosses, Isabel shares a compelling glimpse into a time when working as a secretary provided a glamorous and exciting life full of opportunities.

From Doodlebugs to Devon

From Doodlebugs to Devon PDF Author: Sarah O Shaw
Publisher: Sarah Shaw
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
June 1944. Housewife Yvonne Shaw's life on the Home Front is shattered when Hitler's terror weapons, the 'doodlebugs' or flying bombs, bombard south London. After several fearful weeks she escapes to Devon, but even there her troubles are not over. In letters written to her husband, an army officer in Scotland, she describes her experiences, from trying to buy a decent joint of meat to witnessing the devastation in her suburb. They raise questions: Was Croydon deliberately placed in the doodlebugs' firing line? Why was its MP arrested for breaking the law? Why couldn't she escape to Scotland? Historical evidence provides answers, placing her account in context and revealing surprising stories about the government, secret services and social attitudes which confirm and challenge assumptions about this period. Yvonne's is a unique voice: brave, honest and witty. Hers is the story of a wife, husband and son who long for the war to be over so they can be a family together.

The British Prime Minister

The British Prime Minister PDF Author: Anthony King
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 9780822306344
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
The British prime minister is universally acknowledged to be the most powerful single individual in the British system of government, but very little is known about what goes on behind the closed door at #10 Downing Street. As Anthony King points out, there are few articles—let alone books—on the prime ministership available to students of British politics either in the UK or the US. As the preface to the American edition states, while the British prime minister and the American president "do resemble each other in some ways, it is important right at the start to recognize the profound differences between them."

Downing Street Diary Volume Two

Downing Street Diary Volume Two PDF Author: Bernard Donoughue
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1407020471
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 578

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Book Description
The first volume of Bernard Donoughue's Downing Street Diary was described by Charles Moore in the Daily Telegraph as 'the best account of Harold Wlson's last days'; 'the sheer scale and detail are fascinating' wrote Peter Riddell in the Times Literary Supplement. This second volume covers the three years, 1976-79, when Donoughue was Senior Policy Advisor to James Callaghan. At first Callaghan quickly established dominance over his cabinet and restored calm after the plots and scandals of the later Wilson years. His incomes policy reduced inflation and, in the teeth of opposition from the left wing, he negotiated the notorious IMF loan at the expense of eliminating some of Labour's most cherished dreams. By 1978, Callaghan, a politician of great patriotism and decency, seemed to have succeeded in steering Britain into calmer waters. But then the storm broke. Trade union militants brushed aside their mediocre leaders and launched a ferocious attack on Callaghan's pay policy, driving up inflation and demonstrating the government's impotence. In the diaries we see the prime minister and the government paralysed as the 'Winter of Discontent' began to bite and politics took to the streets. As Labour drifted to inevitable defeat in the 1979 election we see Callaghan fighting honourably. From the smoke of battle there emerges a striking new leader: Margaret Thatcher. The diaries describe vividly both the decline and final collapse of 'old' Labour and how Mrs Thatcher took the opportunity to launch her crusade to dismantle trade union power and much of the British public sector. Besides James Callaghan the chief figures in this volume of Lord Donoughue's diaries are Roy Jenkins, Denis Healey, Tony Crosland, Michael Foot, Shirley Williams, David Owen and Tony Benn.

The Diary That Changed the World

The Diary That Changed the World PDF Author: Karen Bartlett
Publisher: Biteback Publishing
ISBN: 178590616X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
"A meticulous account of the fascinating, convoluted and sometimes ugly publishing history of the world's most famous diary. Karen Bartlett's book is all the more relevant at a time of untruths and fake news." – Caroline Moorehead, bestselling author of Village of Secrets: Defying the Nazis in Vichy France *** When Otto Frank unwrapped his daughter's diary with trembling hands and began to read the first pages, he discovered a side to Anne that was as much a revelation to him as it would be to the rest of the world. Little did Otto know he was about to create an icon recognised the world over for her bravery, sometimes brutal teenage honesty and determination to see beauty even where its light was most hidden. Nor did he realise that publication would spark a bitter battle that would embroil him in years of legal contest and eventually drive him to a nervous breakdown and a new life in Switzerland. Today, more than seventy-five years after Anne's death, the diary is at the centre of a multi-million-pound industry, with competing foundations, cultural critics and former friends and relatives fighting for the right to control it. In this insightful and wide-ranging account, Karen Bartlett tells the full story of The Diary of Anne Frank, the highly controversial part it played in twentieth-century history, and its fundamental role in shaping our understanding of the Holocaust. At the same time, she sheds new light on the life and character of Otto Frank, the complex, driven and deeply human figure who lived in the shadows of the terrible events that robbed him of his family, while he painstakingly crafted and controlled his daughter's story.

The Cambridge History of the First World War: Volume 1, Global War

The Cambridge History of the First World War: Volume 1, Global War PDF Author: Jay Winter
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316025527
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1357

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Book Description
This first volume of The Cambridge History of the First World War provides a comprehensive account of the war's military history. An international team of leading historians charts how a war made possible by globalization and imperial expansion unfolded into catastrophe, growing year by year in scale and destructive power far beyond that which anyone had anticipated in 1914. Adopting a global perspective, the volume analyses the spatial impact of the war and the subsequent ripple effects that occurred both regionally and across the world. It explores how imperial powers devoted vast reserves of manpower and material to their war efforts and how, by doing so, they changed the political landscape of the world order. It also charts the moral, political and legal implications of the changing character of war and, in particular, the collapse of the distinction between civilian and military targets.