ABSTRACT
Many accounts of twentieth-century British history assume that the two World Wars inaugurated significant changes for women. The wars are seen as turning points or watersheds bounding well-recognized historical periods and redirecting the course of women’s lives. They were special because, unlike the numerous colonial wars of the previous century, they involved a large proportion of the British people directly, either as combatants, in support roles, or as the victims of the bombing, shortages and disruption characteristic of “total war”. This has given rise to two kinds of historiography. In one, the wars are understood to have had profound effects on women’s lives, but because the focus of the historical work is elsewhere, the changes are assumed and not explored.1 In the other, the wars are subject to close scrutiny, and different interpretations of the changes are hotly debated.2
