Stress in Post-War Britain, 1945–85

Mark Jackson is Professor of the History of Medicine and Research Theme Leader for Medical Humanities at the University of Exeter. Recent research has focused on the history of allergic diseases, such as asthma, hayfever and eczema, in the modern world, and on the history of stress. Publications include Oxford Handbook of the History of Medicine, ed (2011), and The Age of Stress: Science and the Search for Stability (2013), as well numerous edited volumes, book chapters and journal articles.

• Stress in Post-War Britain: An Introduction, Mark Jackson; Chapter 1 From War to Peace: Families Adapting to Change, Pamela Richardson; Chapter 2 Families, Stress and Mental Illness in Devon, 1940s to 1970s, Nicole Baur; Chapter 3 Gender, Stress and Alcohol Abuse in Post-War Britain, Ali Haggett; Chapter 4 Working too Hard: Experiences of Worry and Stress in Post-War Britain, Jill Kirby; Chapter 5 Industrial Automation and Stress, c. 1945–79, Sarah Hayes; Chapter 6 Cultural Change, Stress and Civil Servants’ Occupational Health, c. 1967–85, Debbie Palmer; Chapter 7 Men and Women Under Stress: Neuropsychiatric Models of Resilience During and after the Second World War, Mark Jackson; Chapter 8 Stomach for the Peace: Psychosomatic Disorders in UK Veterans and Civilians, 1945–55, Edgar Jones; Chapter 9 Food Allergy, Mental Illness and Stress Since 1945, Matthew Smith; Chapter 10 Labouring Stress: Scientific Research, Trade Unions and Perceptions of Workplace Stress in Mid-Twentieth-Century Britain, Joseph Melling; Chapter 11 Creating ‘The Social’: Stress, Domesticity and Attempted Suicide, Chris Millard;

"Stress in Post-War Britain is an edited volume, but the chapters are remarkably cohesive. It is possible to read chapter after chapter without feeling that there has been excessive repetition or significant disconnect in topic…This book is a stimulating collection of essays that situate stress in a wider context whilst also providing the close analysis of a collection of case studies. It deserves to be very widely read." - Alice White, University of Kent, Medical History