"Woman's Hour" from Joyce Grenfell to Sharon Osbourne: Celebrating Sixty Years of Women's Lives - Hardcover

'The history of the programme, through austerity, affluence, permissiveness, feminism, Thatcherism and post-Thatcherism, is almost the story of women in Britain since the Second World War' -- The Sunday Times 'Generations of women (and men) who have had their lives enlightened, entertained and empowered by Radio 4's iconic Women's Hour will be a target market for this book marking the programme's sixtieth anniversary' -- Publishing News 20060120 With contributions from Jenni Murray, Sue MacGregor and Martha Kearney, a collection of interviews representing the best of this iconic and influential Radio 4 programme' -- Publishing News 20060519 'A dippable bedside book that is rather like the programme itself under Jenni Murray's charge: brisk, unsentimental, well-informed, produced at speed' -- Valerie Grove, Literary Review 20060519 'This book! is a remarkable history of how women feel about themselves and their surroundings' -- Edwina Currie, The Times 20060519 'The wealth of bite-size history, humour and photographs in the book makes it perfect for delving into at leisure, and it will be of interest not just to loyal listeners, but to anyone with an interest in Britain over the past 60 years' -- Olivia Gordon, Observer 20060519 'Presenters, editors, network controllers, BBC charters, even its signature tune have come and gone. Woman's Hour goes on. This book gives some idea why. It is about how half the world -- the female half- lives' -- Gillian Reynolds, Daily Telegraph 20060519 'It is one of the pleasures of this book that the post-war years, in their famed austerity, shine a queer lamp on our affluent and promiscuously media-friendly decade' -- Kathy O'Shaughnessy, Times Literary Supplement: 20060519 'A celebratory volume! providing insight into an institution' -- Sue Baker, Publishing News 20060519

Woman's Hour is one of Britain's greatest national institutions, entertaining millions of women (and men) since its first broadcast on 7 October 1946. For sixty years, the programme has championed the woman's perspective on topics such as health, education, family and home, work, sex, arts, fashion, international affairs and politics. From celebrity interviews to ordinary listeners who were invited to tell their personal stories on air, Woman's Hour has charted the changing status of women throughout the latter twentieth century and into the twenty-first. Now, for the first time, this book brings together many of these interviews, reflecting the passage of the decades through the unique voices of those who have taken part. Highlights include presenter Jill Allgood interviewing Joyce Grenfell in her own home in the post-war years, to Ailsa Garland discussing hair and fashion with Cilla Black in the swinging sixties; Germaine Greer and Kate Millet advocating a women's movement in the 1970s; the Thatcher years of the 1980s; Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi campaigning for Burmese democracy in 1996, and Sharon Osbourne talking parenthood and cosmetic surgery in 2005. Woman's Hour: From Joyce Grenfell to Sharon Osbourne tells a vivid and personal history through the voices of its guests, and provides a thrilling insight into how the programme has inspired, set the agenda and brought women together over six fascinating decades.