Editing Angus Calder (section)

==''The People's War''==
Calder had been commissioned to write a general history of the [[United Kingdom home front during World War II|British Home Front]] by the publisher [[Jonathan Cape]] while still working on his PhD thesis. This led to ''The People's War'', first published in 1969. The work was academic in tone and ranged widely across the political and social history of the period. It was critical of enduring propaganda myths without being polemic, and was extremely successful. It has subsequently been described as "groundbreaking".{{sfn|Addison|2010|pp=301–2}}{{sfn|The Financial Times|2008}} As Addison summarised:

{{blockquote|In order to wage the war, Angus argued, the prewar ruling class had been compelled to mobilize the people. During the first half of the war they had effectively displaced their former rulers and taken charge of the war themselves. It became the People's War, a 'ferment of participatory democracy', exemplified by the way in which Londoners, acting in defiance of the government, had turned underground tube stations into deep shelters. During the second half of the war, however, the 'forces of wealth, bureaucracy and privilege' began to regroup and recover the authority they had lost.{{sfn|Addison|2010|p=302}} }}

''The People's War'' was well received and won the [[John Llewellyn Rhys Prize]], a [[literary award]].{{sfn|The Guardian|2008}} Though its thesis was not widely adopted in academia, it proved extremely influential as [[popular history]]. [[Richard Eyre]] said that he "could name about twenty works, films, television and theatre which have emerged essentially from Angus Calder's book".{{sfn|Addison|2010|p=303}} Among those who were said to have been influenced by the work were the playwright [[David Hare (playwright)|David Hare]] and future prime minister [[Gordon Brown]].{{sfn|The Financial Times|2008}} It remains in print.

Calder increasingly began to doubt his own thesis over the following decades. Many of his original conclusions were revised in his ''The Myth of the Blitz'' (1991). According to Addison, this reassessment was encouraged by Calder's revulsion with the [[jingoism|jingoistic nationalism]] which accompanied the [[Falklands War|Falklands War of 1982]] and [[Thatcherism]]. Both were partly inspired by the [[collective memory]] of the "People's War" which Calder had himself popularised.{{sfn|Addison|2010|p=303}}