Many bits and pieces of research, not to mention larger chunks, came from books, articles, photographs, and newsreels too numerous to mention. However, the author owes a particular debt of gratitude to the following:
Mark Roodhouse, Black Market Britain: 1939–1955
Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska, Austerity in Britain: Rationing, Controls, and Consumption, 1939–1955
Alan Palmer, The East End: Four Centuries of London Life
David Hughes, “The Spivs,” in Michael Sissons and Philip French’s (eds.) Age of Austerity
Carol Kennedy, Mayfair: A Social History
Patricia Baker, Fashions of a Decade: The 1940s
Ruth Adam, A Woman’s Place, 1910–1975
Martin Pugh, Women and the Women’s Movement in Britain, 1914–1959
Tom Harrison, Living Through The Blitz
Martin Stallion, Secretary of the Police History Society
And her handy, dandy, foldable 1946 London Bus and Tram Map, with which she guided Gwen through her misadventures. Iris, of course, did not need a map to find trouble.
The author takes full responsibility for any errors made. Indeed, she will immediately launch into a ghastly display of sobbing upon confrontation with any such, so please be kind.