Homes Fit For Heroes: the Aftermath of the First World War

It was supposed to be the war to end all wars and it was hoped the years that followed would usher in a new era. This book describes the re-building of Britain in the decades after 1918. And in this centenary year, the themes explored here are more relevant than ever. 

Those returning home required jobs, and with them clean and modern homes for their families. The slums and tenements of the pre-war years would not enable a healthy workforce to tackle the challenges of the new post-war world.

Within a fortnight of signing the armistice Prime Minister David Lloyd George’s famous speech spoke of the future ‘What is our task? To make Britain a fit country for heroes to live in’.

Bold advances were made, with ambitious schemes undertaken by local authorities. These early developments were not always able to keep ahead of the economic realities of the time, and many faltered.

But through such pioneering improvements, housing was fixed firmly at the centre of British politics, and of course it remains so today.

Frank Field MP, lifelong anti-poverty campaigner and formerly the minister for welfare reform, has kindly written the foreword, which you can read here. 

A5 (softcover) 96 pages

Author: Trevor Yorke

ISBN 9781846743498