Neglected Voices from the Past – serie

This book aims to extend existing historical, literary and media knowledge of neglected written voices as a form of print participation in the Second World War. Uniquely, it is framed by an awareness of contemporary requirements for both secrecy and deception, which, it is argued, were nevertheless characterised by a rare participatory inclusivity in terms of writers and audiences - that has hitherto only been perceived as a characteristic of ‘citizen’s journalism’ in the internet age. Comparative cases of resistance using newspapers during the Second World War comprise original and clandestine sources from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, and Britain - analysed for the effect that intelligence and planned deception had on local publications as well as on readers of resistance broadsheets.

This book aims to extend existing historical, literary and media knowledge of neglected written voices as a form of print participation in the Second World War. Uniquely, it is framed by an awareness of contemporary requirements for both secrecy and deception, which, it is argued, were nevertheless characterised by a rare participatory inclusivity in terms of writers and audiences - that has hitherto only been perceived as a characteristic of ‘citizen’s journalism’ in the internet age. Comparative cases of resistance using newspapers during the Second World War comprise original and clandestine sources from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, and Britain - analysed for the effect that intelligence and planned deception had on local publications as well as on readers of resistance broadsheets.

This book constitutes the first book-length study of journalistic responses to poverty and protest during the Lancashire cotton crisis. The cotton crisis of 1861-1865 is a popular subject in history, culture and education. Workers’ voices are comprehensively studied in terms of newspapers publishing fiction and poetry, and the broader political response to the crisis, the American Civil War and British workers’ support of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. They are, though, overlooked in terms of journalistic representation of workers. Ironically, discussions of the cotton crisis, including where efforts are made to assess the workers’ experience, have consistently relied upon journalism as primary sources and the first witness of history without assessing the news copy’s political unconscious. This lack of attention is especially apparent when considering workers challenging poverty through dedicated protest. Amid the celebrated workers’ opposition to slavery, and their ‘sublime heroism’ as noted by American President Abraham Lincoln, there were less studied local struggles for financial help, for education, and for the vote.