War of the unknown warriors : memories of Britain, 1939-45

Today we can choose to spend our leisure time visiting National Trust properties to take a step back into history, to see art treasures or to walk in beautiful landscapes.

During the Second World War many people had no such choice and were evacuated to or evicted from places which are now in the care of the National Trust.In this fascinating book David Souden writes about a different side of National Trust properties, drawing on the Trusts rich oral, written and photographic archives.

There are wartime stories to be told for nearly every property now looked after by the National Trust.Find out which historic houses were used for secret intelligence work, prisoner of war camps, accommodation for officers and men, temporary homes for girls and boys schools.

See wartime photographs of child evacuees mowing formal garden lawns, nurses and soldiers playing croquet, drawing rooms filled with art pieces converted into working offices, parks used for military training and formal gardens carved up into vegetable patches.

City, coastal and countryside properties also played their part during the war, for examples, the Dig for Victory, preparations for D-Day landings, coastal defences and bouncing bomb experiments.