ABSTRACT
This chapter engages with the moment of return that occurred at the end of the Second World War. Through its analysis of Three Men in New Suits (1945) by J. B. Priestley and Rosie Hogarth (1951) by Alexander Baron, it looks at the period of post-war reconstruction, its effect on the working-class masculinities of returning ex-servicemen and their affect on the society that was being constructed. The chapter argues that, despite the formation of the welfare state, the moment of return represents a traumatic experience and that the democratising tendencies that emerged at the end of the war were tempered by a wave of nostalgia which limited the recasting of Britain and the egalitarian drive that followed the war. The chapter considers changes to housing, work, and relationships with the opposite sex and their effect on working-class masculine identities. Ultimately the chapter argues that the desire to reaffirm masculine identities and reclaim the position of breadwinner within heteronormative family structures led to an amicable acquiescence that laid the foundations for a consumer society in Britain.
