Portsmouth The Postcard Collection

- Blurb -

The city of Portsmouth on the Hampshire coast, has been an important naval base for centuries and is still home to much of the Royal Navy's fleet today. The town has grown around its dockyards, spreading down to include the resort of Southsea on the southern point of Portsea Island in the 19th century. At the turn of the 20th century, Portsmouth was regarded as the world's greatest port, with a large proportion of the town working in the dockyards, particularly refitting ships during World War 1. Portsmouth became a city in 1926 and as a major naval base and embarkation centre for the troops for D-Day it was the target for heavy aerial bombardment in the blitz which left much of the old city and the surrounding areas destroyed.In Portsmouth & Southsea The Postcard Collection the author has drawn on a remarkable selection of old postcards to give a pictorial record of life in Portsmouth in the past, from c1900 to the end of World War 2. Although much of historical Portsmouth was lost during World War 2, some landmarks have remained and will be familiar today. The postcards show the changes to Portsmouth's fabric and its community adapting and changing over the course of this period. This fascinating collection of images will be of interest to those who have lived in Portsmouth or know it well.