Eyewitness the 1900s: Authentic Voices of the 20th Century

ISBN 10: 0563530901 ISBN 13: 9780563530909

Publisher: BBC Audiobooks Ltd, 2004

Synopsis

Tim Pigott-Smith presents an audio snapshot of the history of the Twentieth Century. Released in ten volumes, Eyewitness provides a rare opportunity to hear the history of the 20th century described by those who were actually there. Tim Pigott-Smith weaves together fascinating reminiscences taken from the BBC archives ? many previously unbroadcast ? with an insightful commentary written by Joanna Bourke, Professor of History at Birkbeck College. The century began with British troops at war in South Africa, and majors, colonels and privates recall their part in the action. The death of Queen Victoria led to the streets of London being lined with funeral spectators, and the subsequent coronation of Edward VII in 1902 lent the nation a mood of ?lightheartedness, sparkle and glamour?. Meanwhile theatregoers and music hall audiences were being entertained by Henry Irving and Marie Lloyd. A multitude of vox pops offer insights into life in the 1900s ? the manners, fashion, discipline, religion, alcohol and sport. Voices of ordinary people are mixed with those whose names still resonate today: writer Compton Mackenzie, playwright Ben Travers, Marconi the radio pioneer, suffragette?s daughter Sylvia Pankhurst, and Violet Bonham-Carter.

About this title

Review

"A wonderful idea and excellently executed ..best possible use of the medium and a great narrator" -- The Independent

"Eyewitness is a treasure trove of lost accents and cadences..." -- The Observer

"...mines the BBC’s sound archives to produce what will surely become the greatest oral history series... -- The Times

A compelling selection that gives stimulating insights into great events... -- Sunday Times Culture

A perfect 10! -- North West Evening Mail

Eyewitness is a treasure trove... -- The Observer, January 2005

Rich and varied, bringing history alive... -- Songs of Praise Magazine, Spring 2005

This must be as close to the horse's mouth as history gets... -- The Guardian, January 2005

From the Publisher

The recordings in this collection are from the BBC's radio and television programme archives. The power of recorded reminiscences was obvious from the earliest days of broadcasting, and first-hand accounts of great events and the personalities of the recent past were featured in radio series such as I Was There, I Knew a Man and the ever-popular Scrapbook, a radio regular for more than forty years. The BBC's regional centres were also quick to realise that they had a unique opportunity to record the memories of people whose dialects were already beginning to fade out.
It was still surprising to discover just how much material was in existence concerning the year 1900 and the decade following – and, even better, that people were recorded when their memories were lively and thoughtful, relishing the whole process.
There's an immediacy and a vitality about these recordings. People reminisce in an
unselfconscious way and seem to have a genuine affection for the period. The life they describe is predictably varied, depending on their social class and the differences between rural and urban living. There are wide extremes of wealth and poverty. The languid glamour of Edwardian life is supported by many thousands of affordable servants, whose working lives are anything but languid. It is, on the whole, a decade of great stability, and the simplicities and certainties of life are deeply ingrained.
In 1900 Great Britain was at war in South Africa, and the accounts by professional soldiers of all ranks are fascinating, many specially recorded in the 1960s by the BBC. In a war where hard lessons were learnt, most thought the campaign poorly organized against a respected and skilful enemy, resulting in unusually heavy casualties. Memories of the hysteria at home that greets the reliefs of Mafeking and Ladysmith have a distinctly modern feel: a population desperate to hear good news from a relatively new mass media. Intriguingly, there seem to be strong pro-Boer feelings among the educated classes, as ‘Imperialism’ begins to lose its Victorian appeal.
The death of Queen Victoria is a seminal moment, and people's recollections are deeply affecting. However, the new King is a familiar and popular figure, and optimism for a peaceful and prosperous future is strong. Interestingly, the only voices we do hear pressing for social change in this decade are very much those of the middle and upper-middle classes: women campaigning for the vote. Their memories are so full – a belief in their cause, the camaraderie of the sisterhood, a hint of Angela Brazil hero-worship for the Pankhursts, and sheer exhilaration in their militant activities. The excitement of ‘doing one's first pillar box’ or smashing patrician windows on the run, pursued by lumbering policemen, is immediate, even fifty years on. The brutality of their treatment by the authorities is shocking, even more when so coolly remembered.
There is much to admire in the people whose voices form part of this history of the 20th century’s first decade. One notable feature is a willingness to burst into song in the middle of an anecdote. The songs they sing were a natural and familiar part of their lives. They sang them at village and church socials, and around a piano at home. They joined in at the music hall and sang as the soldiers marched away to war. Because people were used to performing socially, it was perhaps natural to do so for a BBC tape recorder many years later.
Finally, the sheer brio of Edwardian life comes over in the language, the vowels, the drawl – tangible and audible – of people who are confident in their values and the enjoyment of that period. Of all these voices, one in particular is worth mentioning. A medical officer in South Africa talks of the damage wreaked on his troops, pinned down on Spion Kop by Boer ‘pom-pom’ guns – ‘Death Knockers’, he calls them. As he remembers their savage injuries and the amputations he performed, he murmurs, ‘oh, the poor dears!’ almost to himself. In such small ways we receive insights into our past.

About this edition

• Publisher: BBC Audiobooks Ltd
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0563530901
• ISBN 13: 9780563530909
• Binding: Audio CD
• Language: English