
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Nazi Germany had finally been defeated. And, for 24 hours, Britons could let their hair down and celebrate. But not everyone was in the mood to party. As 2025 marks the 80th anniversary, John Willis tells the story of VE Day via the experiences of ordinary Britons who lived through it. Here, in conversation with Spencer Mizen, he discusses what these testimonies reveal about the state of mind of a nation after six long years of war.
(Ad) John Willis is the author of The People’s War: Unheard Voices: Life on the Battlefront and at Home in World War II (BBC Books, 2025). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fthe-peoples-war%2Fjohn-willis%2F9781785949005.
The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
4.4
28122,812 ratings
Nazi Germany had finally been defeated. And, for 24 hours, Britons could let their hair down and celebrate. But not everyone was in the mood to party. As 2025 marks the 80th anniversary, John Willis tells the story of VE Day via the experiences of ordinary Britons who lived through it. Here, in conversation with Spencer Mizen, he discusses what these testimonies reveal about the state of mind of a nation after six long years of war.
(Ad) John Willis is the author of The People’s War: Unheard Voices: Life on the Battlefront and at Home in World War II (BBC Books, 2025). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fthe-peoples-war%2Fjohn-willis%2F9781785949005.
The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
5,389 Listeners
1,902 Listeners
4,675 Listeners
449 Listeners
230 Listeners
712 Listeners
3,043 Listeners
13,053 Listeners
1,758 Listeners
1,982 Listeners
2,636 Listeners
1,210 Listeners
1,420 Listeners
2,107 Listeners
66 Listeners
47 Listeners
908 Listeners
18 Listeners
12 Listeners
2 Listeners