Julie Summers

Not to be confused with Julie Sommars.
Julie Summers
Born1960
Occupation(s)Writer
Researcher
Historian
Actress
Years active2004 - Present
Known forInspiring Home Fires
Notable work
  • Jambusters
  • Fashion on the Ration
  • Fearless on Everest
  • Stranger in the House

Julie Summers (born 1960) is an English author, historical consultant[1] and writer, best known for the book Jambusters. The book focuses on several women who were members of the Women's Institute during World War II and who were inspiration for the ITV series Home Fires. She is the granddaughter of Philip Toosey and the great niece of Sandy Irvine.

Early life and career

She was born at Clatterbridge on the Wirral Peninsula in 1960. She attended Culcheth Hall School, Altrincham; Howell's School, Denbigh and Wycombe Abbey School. She was at Munich Business School 1978-80 and spent one year at Deutsche Bank. She then studied German and History of Art at Bristol University; Courtauld Institute of Art: Medieval Architecture. At the Royal Academy of Arts was secretary 1986-1989 to Norman Rosenthal, then she was Deputy Curator for the Henry Moore Foundation 1989-1996, a freelance exhibition organiser 1996-2000 and Head of Exhibitions at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford 2000-2004.[2]

Books

  • Fearless on Everest: The Quest For Sandy Irvine (2001).[3]
  • Remembered: The History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (2007) - with Brian Harris[5]
  • Stranger in the House: Women's Stories of Men Returning from the Second World War (2009)[6]
  • British and Commonwealth War Cemeteries (2010)[7]
  • When the Children Came Home (2012) which focused on the evacuees who returned home from the war.[8][9]
  • Rowing In Britain (2012) A brief history of the last 200 years of rowing in Britain[10]
  • Jambusters: the story of the Women's Institute in the Second World War (2013) was the inspiration for the ITV Series Home Fires, in which Summers has a cameo appearance.[11][12] The series began in May 2015 and following successful ratings ITV commissioned a second series.[13] The book has also been published as Home Fires[14]
  • Fashion On The Ration: Style In The Second World War (2015)[15] The book focuses on the fashion style during the 1940s.

Other notable work

Summers was also the research consultant on the popular film The Woman in Black: Angel of Death.

References

  1. ^ "Julie Summers". IMDb. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Biography on Julie Summers web-site". Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  3. ^ Summers, Julie (6 December 2001). Fearless on Everest: The Quest for Sandy Irvine (New ed.). London: Phoenix. ISBN 9780753812655.
  4. ^ Summers, Julie (2005). The Colonel of Tamarkan, Philip Toosey and the Bridge on the River Kwai. Simon and Schuster – London. ISBN 0743263502.
  5. ^ Summers, Julie (2010). Remembered: The History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Merrell Publishers Ltd. ISBN 978-1858943749.
  6. ^ Summers, Julie (2009). Stranger in the House: Women's Stories of Men Returning from the Second World War. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0743295529.
  7. ^ Summers, Julie (2010). British and Commonwealth War Cemeteries. Shire. ISBN 978-0747807896.
  8. ^ Summers, Julie (1 March 2012). When the Children Came Home: Stories of Wartime Evacuees. Simon & Schuster UK. ISBN 9781847398765.
  9. ^ "Amazon.co.uk:Customer Reviews: When the Children Came Home: Stories of Wartime Evacuees". www.amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  10. ^ Summers, Julie (10 July 2012). Rowing in Britain. Shire Publications. ISBN 9780747812111.
  11. ^ Julie., Summers (2013). Jambusters : the story of the Women's Institute in the Second World War. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0857200464. OCLC 812071126.
  12. ^ "Julie Summers". IMDb. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  13. ^ "ITV commissions a second series of Home Fires". ITV Press Centre. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  14. ^ Summers, Julie (2015). Home Fires. Penguin. ISBN 978-0143108450.
  15. ^ Summers, Julie (5 March 2015). Fashion on the Ration: Style in the Second World War (1st ed.). Profile Books. ISBN 9781781253267.