Review: "How to Survive in Ration Book Britain" by Toni Mount

How to Survive in Ration Book Britain by Toni Mount
Published November 2025 via Pen and Sword History
★★★★

A survey is conducted in 1942 by women asking others from all backgrounds about how they cope with their periods or on 'certain days', as an advert coyly phrases it in the Home Companion magazine, dated 6 January 1940. Some women make their own towels from soft, absorbent rags – apparently the shirts of German prisoners-of-war officers make excellent towels and come complete with little swastika designs: the perfect way to insult the enemy. Others buy them from drapers' shops or chemists but there's a lot of embarrassment about having to ask a male assistant for them – in the days before selfservice – even though sanitary products are sold in discreet, plain packaging without anything to denote what they are. The results of the survey remain secret, for government eyes only, until 1972. (loc. 705*)

Picture this: It's the 2020s, and you've agreed to test out your friend's time machine. Your friend is a would-be inventor, emphasis on would-be, and you never expected it to work...but here you are, suddenly in 1940s Britain. The country is at war, daily life looks markedly different than your 2020s norm, and you're afraid of what might happen if you let on that you're not from this time and place. But good news! Your friend, who of course never doubted the time machine's success, has stashed a copy of How to Survive in Ration Book Britain in your rucksack.

Mount's premise (which I've taken some liberties with above, hah) is so clever that I was just kind of delighted most of the way through the book. As promised, this is a guide to daily life in wartime Britain, from clothing styles (and laws!) to types of bomb shelter and how to access them to, of course, using your ration book...as a local or as a newcomer. (Oddly, despite having read many dozens of books set in WWII Britain, I'd never given all that much thought to how ration books worked.) I didn't know that even new furniture was rationed! I spent some time struggling to imagine just how all of this rationing would go over today, and obviously it's not impossible but it does feel very of a different time.

Two ideal readers for this one: First, anyone who's just chronically, perpetually, fatally curious and loves a good premise. (That's me!) And second, those doing their own writing set in World War II Britain or who are otherwise doing research involving the time and place. This would be a great resource for historical fiction writers and for high school students alike—so much research, already in one place! If you don't fall into one of those two groups, this might have limited value for you, but I'm now eager to read Mount's similar book about medieval England.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.