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Auntie's War by Edward Stourton (Omnibus)

Ed Stourton describes the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ’s wartime journey, the boredom of the Phoney War and the reporter’s experiences. From 2018.

The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ is a British institution unlike any other, and its story during the Second World War is also the story of Britain's people.

Writer and presenter Edward Stourton is a sharp-eyed and affectionate companion on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's wartime journey, investigating archives, diaries, letters and memoirs to examine what the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ was and what it stood for.

Ed describes how the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ adapted to being on a war footing, the boredom of the Phoney War and the experiences of reporters sent to France.

These were the years when Auntie (the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's enduring nickname) earned a reputation for bossiness. It was also a period of remarkable voices - Churchill's fighting speeches, de Gaulle's broadcasts from exile, George Orwell, Ed Murrow, Richard Dimbleby and Vera Lynn.

During these extraordinary times, eyewitness testimonies gave a voice to everyone, securing the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's reputation as a reliable purveyor of the truth.

Auntie's War is more than a portrait of an institution at a critical time, it is also a portrayal of the British in wartime and an insight into why we have our broadcast culture today.

Omnibus of five parts abridged by Anna Magnusson.

Read by Edward Stourton.

Producer: Pippa Vaughan

A Loftus production for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4, first broadcast in January 2018.

1 hour, 10 minutes

Last on

Sun 13 Nov 2022 06:00

Broadcasts

  • Sun 14 Jan 2018 09:00
  • Sun 14 Jan 2018 20:00
  • Sun 13 Nov 2022 06:00