Nancy Mitford or conviction. Many of her writings—for example, her introductions to the Stanley letter collections, and her "U–non-U" essay of 1955—are staunch defences of aristocratic traditions and values. The outbreak of war in September 1939 divided the Mitford family. Nancy and Rodd supported the war; the Romillys had by this time departed for America, while the others either hoped for an Anglo-German détente or, as with Unity, were openly pro-Nazi. Unity was in Munich when war was declared; in despair she attempted suicide by shooting herself in the head. She survived, and was sent home through neutral Switzerland. Mosley and Diana,
The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters scalding wit and best selling novelist; Pamela, who craved a quiet country life; Diana, the fascist jailed during the Second World War; Unity, whose obsession with Hitler led to her demise, Jessica, the runaway communist; and Deborah, the socialite who became Duchess of Devonshire. The book was well received both critically and commercially. In particular previously held perceptions were challenged. India Knight wrote in the "Sunday Times"; "we didn’t really know them especially well, it turns out. Jessica was not that good; Diana briefly sinister but also clever, kind, fatally loyal to her Blackshirt husband, Oswald Mosley, and so on."