Waste into weapons : recycling in Britain during the Second World War / Peter Thorsheim, University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thorsheim, Peter, author.

Series:

Studies in environment and history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World War, 1939-1945--Great Britain--Equipment and supplies.

World War, 1939-1945.

Defense industries--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Defense industries.

Recycling (Waste, etc.)--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Recycling (Waste, etc.).

Salvage (Waste, etc.)--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Salvage (Waste, etc.).

Scrap metals--History--Recycling--Great Britain--20th century.

Scrap metals.

History.

Civil rights.

Cultural property.

Great Britain.

Cultural property--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Civil rights--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Great Britain--History, Military--20th century.

History, Military.

Great Britain--Foreign relations--1936-1945.

International relations.

Great Britain--Social conditions--20th century.

Social conditions.

Physical Description:

xiii, 289 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Summary:

"During the Second World War, the United Kingdom faced severe shortages of essential raw materials. To keep its armaments factories running, the British government enlisted millions of people in efforts to recycle a wide range of materials for use in munitions production. Recycling not only supplied British munitions factories with much-needed raw materials--it also played a key role in the efforts of the British government to maintain the morale of its citizens, to secure billions of dollars in Lend-Lease aid from the United States, and to uncover foreign intelligence. However, Britain's wartime recycling campaign came at a cost: it consumed items that would never have been destroyed under normal circumstances, including significant parts of the nation's cultural heritage. Based on extensive archival research, Peter Thorsheim examines the relationship between armaments production, civil liberties, cultural preservation, and diplomacy, making Waste into Weapons the first in-depth history of twentieth-century recycling in Britain"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I. Beating Ploughshares into Swords

Salvage in times of peace and war

Persuasion and its limits

Britain's darkest hour

Private enterprise and the public good

Part II. Alliances

Lend-Lease

Waste becomes a crime

Part III. History, Culture, and Civil Liberties

The built environment

Wasting paper

Requisition

Victory and postwar.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781107099357

1107099358

OCLC:

908554307

Online:

Cover image