First Year's Work, 1937-1938 (Mass Observation social surveys) - Softcover

Observation, Mass

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0571250408 ISBN 13: 9780571250400

Publisher: Faber and Faber, 2009

Synopsis

Mass Observation was founded by Tom Harrisson, Charles Madge and Humphrey Jennings in 1937. Its purpose was to create 'an anthropology of ourselves' in other words, to study the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. Discounting an initial pamphlet, this was the second book to be published. It appears in Faber Finds as a part of an extensive reissue programme of the original Mass Observation titles. Subjects covered include smoking, pub-going and football pools. There is a section given over to some of those who had joined Mass Observation where they explain their reasons for doing so. To quote the original blurb, 'They include a London park-keeper, a working class girl in the North of England, a middle-aged worker in an armaments factory, a woman teacher in an infant school, a naval petty-officer, a bus-driver's wife, a Yorkshire weaver, a hospital nurse, a pharmacist in the East End and a steel worker in Scotland.'

About this title

About the Author:

Mass Observation was founded in 1937 by Tom Harrission, Charles Madge and Humphrey Jennings. Its purpose was to create an 'anthropology of ourselves', in other words, to provide a study of the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain.

In its first period, from 1937 to 1950, it published twenty-two books, many of which are being reissued in Faber Finds. These books constitute a unique social history of the period.

Since 1970 the Mass Observation Archive has been at Sussex University. In 1981 the New Mass Observation Project was born. It is run from the Archive under the direction of Dorothy Sheridan.

The Archive is a magnificent resource which continues to provide rich material for books. Recent publications have included Nella Last's War, Nella Last's Peace, Our Longest Days (all published by Profile) and three selections of Mass Observation Diaries of the Second World War and just after , edited by Simon Garfield and published by Ebury Press.

About this edition

• Publisher: Faber and Faber
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0571250408
• ISBN 13: 9780571250400
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 122