Emma Robertson – författare

This book is the first full-length history of the BBC World Service: from its interwar launch as short-wave radio broadcasts for the British Empire, to its twenty-first-century incarnation as the multi-media global platform of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The book provides insights into the BBC’s working relationship with the Foreign Office, the early years of the Empire Service, and the role of the BBC during the Second World War. In following the voice of the BBC through the Cold War and the contraction of the British empire, the book argues that debates about the work and purposes of the World Service have always involved deliberations about the future of the UK and its place in the world. In current times, these debates have been shaped by the British government’s commitment to leave the European Union and the centrifugal currents in British politics which in the longer term threaten the integrity of the United Kingdom. Through a detailed exploration of its past, the bookposes questions about the World Service’s possible future and argues that, for the BBC, the question is not only what it means to be a global broadcaster as we enter the third decade of the twenty-first century, but what it means to be a national broadcaster in a divided kingdom.

From Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Chocolat, from romantic gift to guilty indulgence, chocolate has a special place in Western popular culture. But what are the hidden histories behind this luxurious commodity? This book examines chocolate production from cocoa bean to chocolate box, illuminating the dynamics of gender, race and empire which have structured the cocoa chain.Using a varied range of sources, and drawing on the author’s own relationship to the industry, this book reconnects the people and places at different stages of chocolate production. Emma Robertson stresses the need to recognise the complex histories of empire and labour which have made such pleasurable consumption possible. Chocolate, women and empire offers exciting new insights into the lives of women workers in a global industry. It will be invaluable to historians of British imperialism as well as to students of Women’s and Gender Studies, Cultural Studies and Business Studies.

Whether for weavers at the handloom, labourers at the plough or factory workers on the assembly line, music has often been a key texture in people's working lives. This book is the first to explore the rich history of music at work in Britain and charts the journey from the singing cultures of pre-industrial occupations, to the impact and uses of the factory radio, via the silencing effect of industrialisation. The first part of the book discusses how widespread cultures of singing at work were in pre-industrial manual occupations. The second and third parts of the book show how musical silence reigned with industrialisation, until the carefully controlled introduction of Music while You Work in the 1940s. Continuing the analysis to the present day, Rhythms of Labour explains how workers have clung to and reclaimed popular music on the radio in desperate and creative ways.

This book is the first full-length history of the BBC World Service: from its interwar launch as short-wave radio broadcasts for the British Empire, to its twenty-first-century incarnation as the multi-media global platform of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The book provides insights into the BBC’s working relationship with the Foreign Office, the early years of the Empire Service, and the role of the BBC during the Second World War. In following the voice of the BBC through the Cold War and the contraction of the British empire, the book argues that debates about the work and purposes of the World Service have always involved deliberations about the future of the UK and its place in the world. In current times, these debates have been shaped by the British government’s commitment to leave the European Union and the centrifugal currents in British politics which in the longer term threaten the integrity of the United Kingdom. Through a detailed exploration of its past, the bookposes questions about the World Service’s possible future and argues that, for the BBC, the question is not only what it means to be a global broadcaster as we enter the third decade of the twenty-first century, but what it means to be a national broadcaster in a divided kingdom.

This book is the first full-length history of the BBC World Service: from its interwar launch as short-wave radio broadcasts for the British Empire, to its twenty-first-century incarnation as the multi-media global platform of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The book provides insights into the BBC’s working relationship with the Foreign Office, the early years of the Empire Service, and the role of the BBC during the Second World War. In following the voice of the BBC through the Cold War and the contraction of the British empire, the book argues that debates about the work and purposes of the World Service have always involved deliberations about the future of the UK and its place in the world. In current times, these debates have been shaped by the British government’s commitment to leave the European Union and the centrifugal currents in British politics which in the longer term threaten the integrity of the United Kingdom. Through a detailed exploration of its past, the bookposes questions about the World Service’s possible future and argues that, for the BBC, the question is not only what it means to be a global broadcaster as we enter the third decade of the twenty-first century, but what it means to be a national broadcaster in a divided kingdom.

From Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Chocolat, from romantic gift to guilty indulgence, chocolate has a special place in Western popular culture. But what are the hidden histories behind this luxurious commodity? This book examines chocolate production from cocoa bean to chocolate box, illuminating the dynamics of gender, race and empire which have structured the cocoa chain.Using a varied range of sources, and drawing on the author’s own relationship to the industry, this book reconnects the people and places at different stages of chocolate production. Emma Robertson stresses the need to recognise the complex histories of empire and labour which have made such pleasurable consumption possible. Chocolate, women and empire offers exciting new insights into the lives of women workers in a global industry. It will be invaluable to historians of British imperialism as well as to students of Women’s and Gender Studies, Cultural Studies and Business Studies.

'A White Lotus-style frenemy implosion thriller... but with Brit girls from the nineties' CAROLINE CORCORANAt school, Darcy Starr was the girl everyone wanted to be - effortlessly beautiful, confident and most importantly, popular. Two decades later, she still appears to have the perfect life: a devoted husband, a beautiful daughter and a picture-perfect suburban home, until her old school friend Alex Rigby reappears. Newly divorced, post-glow-up and harbouring a mysterious vendetta, Alex is about to turn Darcy's world upside down.On a group holiday to celebrate a friend's wedding, secrets, lies and old rivalries bubble to the surface, threatening to change everything Darcy thought she knew about her past. . . and herself.PRAISE FOR A GIRL'S GIRL:'An assured, confident debut that kept me turning pages to find out what would happen - truly wonderful storytelling' ANDREA MARA'We couldn't put this brilliant thriller down' HEAT MAGAZINE'An unputdownable summer read' RUTH IRONS'A sharp, suspenseful debut' THE SUNDAY MAIL'Full of suspense, we read in one sitting' BELLA MAGAZINE'A promising debut from a talented new writer' CATHY KELLY

'A White Lotus-style frenemy implosion thriller... but with Brit girls from the nineties' CAROLINE CORCORANAt school, Darcy Starr was the girl everyone wanted to be - effortlessly beautiful, confident and most importantly, popular. Two decades later, she still appears to have the perfect life: a devoted husband, a beautiful daughter and a picture-perfect suburban home, until her old school friend Alex Rigby reappears. Newly divorced, post-glow-up and harbouring a mysterious vendetta, Alex is about to turn Darcy's world upside down.On a group holiday to celebrate a friend's wedding, secrets, lies and old rivalries bubble to the surface, threatening to change everything Darcy thought she knew about her past. . . and herself.PRAISE FOR A GIRL'S GIRL:'An assured, confident debut that kept me turning pages to find out what would happen - truly wonderful storytelling' ANDREA MARA'We couldn't put this brilliant thriller down' HEAT MAGAZINE'An unputdownable summer read' RUTH IRONS'A sharp, suspenseful debut' THE SUNDAY MAIL'Full of suspense, we read in one sitting' BELLA MAGAZINE'A promising debut from a talented new writer' CATHY KELLY