Observer special: Britain and the second world war
A special supplement from the Observer on the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War Two
From the Blitz to Brexit: how society changed after the second world war
Life for the postwar baby boomers has been full of opportunity and change. But the fight for freedom and a better world continues
Lost empire: it’s a myth that Britain stood alone against Hitler
Today’s rhetoric that the nation single-handedly defeated Nazism does disservice to the thousands of soldiers from the empire and fuels dangerous ideas of British superiority
Culture and conflict: how the second world war transformed fashion, food, arts and tech
From well-loved sitcoms to our taste for instant coffee, the influence of wartime on culture was huge
Brave new world: the search for peace after the second world war
The United Nations was created out of the horrors of the second world war, writes the Observer’s chief political commentator
You must remember this: how family mementoes keep the second world war alive
80 years on, five people share treasured mementoes and the wartime tales of family lore
Into the storm: the horror of the second world war
Eighty years ago the worst conflict in history began. It killed about 3% of the human race: up to 85 million people. Some 55 million of those were civilians
