Introduction

This chapter explores the actions of individuals and their responses to and initiations of change in their lives. It has been a common assumption of British history that twentieth-century Britain became unrecognisable from the Britain of the 'long nineteenth century' which ended in the trauma of the First World War. The feminisation of clerical work is one case of a social change which could too easily be attributed to the war, with the easy explanation that young men became soldiers and it was necessary for young women to fill the jobs they had left at home. The feminisation of office work was a social change which continues to effect Western societies. Glasgow truly was 'a world-ranking city which attracted international attention and which seemed relevant to the mainstream of urban problems and opportunities in a western world experiencing unparalleled economic expansion'.