And here is a link to my programme on the late Queen’s war, also on Radio 4. (Disclaimer one is from my mum!) Testimonies inc: International Review: ‘Dunlop’s voice as a narrator emerges throughout the book: the interviews and letters mingle and interact beautifully with the author’s insights on gender, class and race.’ I also made Army Girls as a Radio 4 documentary. Now out in paperback with a testimony from a veteran who trained alongside Britain’s most famous Army Girl, Elizabeth II, it is my only book that has received consistent 5 star ratings on Amazon. Daphne, Barbara, Grace, Joyce, Betty et al were headline news on BBC TV and Radio, Channel 5, the Telegraph, the Independent and so the list goes on. Together we took the media by storm at the end of 2021. From the precipice of one national crisis they dutifully looked back on another that defined their youth.

Written to commemorate the 80th anniversary of conscription for British women in December 2021, I interviewed 17 of Britain’s oldest WWII female veterans in the middle of the Covid 19 pandemic. I hope you enjoy it.Īrmy Girls, Headline Press, 2021: this was one of those dream books that fitted a niche and (briefly) transformed a narrative. Here’s a link to an Aspects of History podcast about the book. The Daily Mirror, the Daily Mail, The Times Radio and the Critic Magazine etc have all championed Elizabeth and Philip: ‘a riveting take on an extraordinary relationship’.

The Carolingian era looks set to be a challenging one. I make no apologies for being a monarchist but reform is needed from an institution that has always been better at conserving traditions than pushing the envelope of change. The book came out amidst the Harry and Meghan media storm. Thanks to a team of nonagenarian and centenarian friends I was able to make sense of the conundrums and contradictions that defined a long and very public union, a powerful symbol for the last generation who really believed in marriage and monarchy.

RIP Elizabeth II as this book reminds us, your reign was exceptional in so many ways, ditto your marriage. Elizabeth and Philip, Headline Press, November 2022: she was a sugar pink Princess and he was a dashing war hero and when I began writing this book about the 20 th century’s most famous married couple and their young love affair, I never expected to suddenly find myself re-editing the tenses at the last minute.

The Bletchley Girls by Tessa Dunlop