Today we took a quick trip to the Imperial War Museum to catch two of their special exhibits before they disappear. The Museum was packed. They have successfully turned the wars of the 20th century into a draw for the old and the young, the former remembering some of it, the latter a bit confused as to whether they are looking at real things that happened to real people or just another fictional plotline for the TV shows, films, books and video games that dominate popular culture.

The Ministry of Food exhibit examined the provision of food to the British population during the Second World War. Before 1939, Britain imported 60% of its food. What's the point of having colonies if you can't exploit them for basic needs like wheat and tea? Immediately two million acres of land were plowed and brought into cultivation. The food scientists went into action determining the minimum calories and nutrients required for health. Rationing was instituted very quickly based on this information. Everyone agrees that the population as a whole was healthier during the war years than at any time before or since, with health problems of malnutrition at one end of the spectrum and obesity at the other end. Looking at the tiny amount of food, much of it barely edible by today's standards, allocated to each person was an eye opener. Potatoes loomed large in the diet and especially in the endless harangue from the Ministry of Food, because they grow well in Britain, whereas something like wheat for bread had to be sent in convoys from North America regularly torpedoed by U-boots with loss of life and cargo. I love potatoes, but without butter or cream or even some oil for roasting, I too would quickly grow tired of them as a steady diet.

Most non-natives don't realise that rationing was in effect from 1939 to 1954 — in other words more years after the war than during the war. Bread was rationed until 1948, with a few things de-rationed every year, until meat and bacon were the last commodities to be de-rationed in 1954. The devastation in the wake of the war left world wide food shortages, raising food prices, and Britain's empty Treasury did not stretch to import a surplus of food. After the war the millions of acres cultivated returned to their prior uses. The polo players wanted their field back when they returned to their old lives!

The first article I saw in the Evening Standard on the Tube ride home was: "Record increase in price of groceries. . ." So the lovely book that accompanies the exhibit The Ministry of Food: Thrifty Wartime Ways to Feed you Family Today by Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall (Hugh's mother) will be a useful handbook, maybe not the Spam Fritters, but the Courgette Soufflé will be okay. The Bread and Cheese Pudding using bread crumbs would be useful for those ends of bread.

The second exhibit, Outbreak 1939, includes documents and photos of the events on 3 September 1939 that accompanied the declaration of war. Fascinating documents like a draft of a letter written by the King to the US Ambassador Joe Kennedy, following a meeting between the two men, in which you can infer Kennedy told the King, give it up, we won't support you, and you'll just go bankrupt and lose your empire. The King's reply demurs on reaching these conclusions, and invokes the honour of free men and nations to defeat an evil regime. He was tossed from the country the following year and is not remembered with fondness. In Robert Harris's first novel, Fatherland, a great read, Hitler rewards Joe Kennedy with the US Presidency for his help in winning the war. The exhibit has been up for the past year, marking the 70th Anniversary in September 2009. Time marches on. Imagine, the centenary of the First World War is nearly upon us.