Description
Book SynopsisThe rise and fall of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) parallels the promised but eventually unfulfilled modernization agenda of the 1964-6 Wilson government. The diary kept by Samuel Brittan (in contravention of civil service rules) for the fourteen months in which he served as an ''irregular'' in the DEA provides a unique source for understanding the growth ambitions of the new government and why they quickly ran into the sands. Published here in full, with extensive notes, the diary sheds light on the Wilson government more broadly, giving insights into the ''great reappraisal'' of economic policy, the reform of government institutions and the personalities of those involved.Samuel Brittan emerged as the most important economic journalist of his generation (at the Financial Times from 1955, with brief interruptions, to the present). His diary is would be of interest for that reason alone, but it has a double value because of the special place that his book, The Treasury under
Trade ReviewFrom the perspective of the serious scholar ... this is a most valuable resource ... This is a book for the academic connoisseur, who will be indebted to the immense skill of its editor, Roger Middleton, as much as to the diarist himself. * Nicholas Crafts, Financial Times *
Professor Middleton is to be commended for the diligence with which he has edited the book * Nigel Lawson, Standpoint *
The diary has been expertly edited by Roger Middleton, who contributes a most valuable introduction that provides the background to the making of economic policy. * Vernon Bogdanor, New Statesman *
Table of ContentsTHE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS ; SAMUEL BRITTAN, THE DIARY OF AN IRREGULAR, 1964-6 ; APPENDICES
