Writing about the minutiae of daily life must seem like a very strange habit. So I am grateful to all the friends, family and colleagues who have indulged me in various ways during the writing of this book, either by reading draft chapters or offering various forms of help: Jo Croft, Elspeth Graham, Glenda Norquay, Michael Moran, Winifred Moran, Liam Moran, Catherine Wainhouse and Joanna Price.
I would also like to thank Caroline Pretty, Penny Daniel and Nicola Taplin for their help in preparing the manuscript; and particularly my editor Daniel Crewe, who has supported this project from the very beginning and been a wonderfully rigorous but encouraging reader throughout.
The Mass-Observation material quoted in this book is reproduced with the kind permission of the Trustees of the Mass-Observation Archive, and is copyright the Trustees of the Mass-Observation Archive. The extract from ‘September 1, 1939’ is taken from The English Auden published by Faber & Faber Ltd.
And the dedication is for my nephew and niece, whose daily habits are always a delight to observe.