A delightful piece of wartime publishing from B. T. Batsford (originally published 1940) reissued to inform and delight all readers about life on the home front during World War II. The make-do-and-mend ethos helped win the war, from knitting balaclava helmets for the navy to making croquet games for the floor and table for blackout days. This original 1940 publication has 101 suggestions for things to do during Britain's darkest hour. It reveals a practicality and ingenuity that we hope lives on....

The 101 suggestions include :

• Home-made working toys
• Using up scraps of metal and wood
• Croquet for the table and floor
• Puzzles in cardboard
• Toys in wool and felt
• Wartime reading
• Meatless dishes
• Waterless cooking
• Knitting projects
• The garden in wartime
• Lamp shades for the blackout
• Economizing artificial light
• Let us tidy up
  

With dozens of diagrams, patterns and instructions, this book is not only a delightful look at the past but can be used for reference even now: very much the intention of the authors more than 60 years ago.

The suggestions are, by turn, funny, charming and useful, but are a fantastic insight into a nation's psyche.