Short Skirts And Shorthand: Secretaries In The 1970s

In 1971, three-quarters of a million British women were employed as secretaries and typists.  It was a job that had changed little in decades but today no longer exists. Drawing on the reminiscences of more than 60 former secretaries, this book describes their everyday working lives, comparing them with how they were depicted at the time in popular media and by feminist writers. What emerges is a more nuanced picture, one that is revealing, authentic and amusing, and a vivid evocation of the lost world of typewriters, telephones and Tippex. This book is a must for former secretaries, office workers and anyone with an interest in women's social history.