This work investigates how the extraordinary pressures of the Second World War fundamentally altered social norms, sexual morality, and gender roles within the United Kingdom and the United States. John Costello, a noted historian of the conflict, utilizes a vast array of primary source materials—including government records, personal diaries, and contemporary journalism—to document the erosion of traditional Victorian values. The book argues that the mobilization of entire populations for total war created a unique environment where long-standing social taboos were discarded in favor of new, more permissive behaviors.

The text provides a dense, sociologically focused examination of the home front, prioritizing historical documentation over anecdotal narrative. Its scope suggests a scholarly intent to map the rapid evolution of private morality under the extreme conditions of global conflict.