Description
Book SynopsisThe ''sequel'' to his best-selling Classes and Cultures, Ross McKibbin''s latest book is a powerful reinterpretation of British politics in the first decades of universal suffrage. What did it mean to be a ''democratic society''? To what extent did voters make up their own minds on politics or allow elites to do it for them? Exploring the political culture of these extraordinary years, Parties and People shows that class became one of the principal determinants of political behaviour, although its influence was often surprisingly weak. McKibbin argues that the kind of democracy that emerged in Britain was far from inevitable-as much historical accident as design-and was in many ways highly flawed.
Trade ReviewThe distillation of a lifetime's reflection, and as compelling as it is engaging. The historian's art at its most disciplined and distinguished. * Times Higher Education *
[A] subtly argued study. * Paul Smith, Times Literary Supplement *
A model of careful scholarship * Vernon Bogdanor, New Statesman *
The political history so readably, as well as convincingly, analysed by McKibbin has plenty of dramatic surprises and unexpected reversals of fortune. * W. G. Runciman, London Review of Books *
This is a book that is certainly well written and offers a beguiling explanation of the events that created England's present, but far from inevitable, system of democracy. It deserves to be widely read. * Keith Laybourn, History *
An elegant and engaging addition to the history of English democracy. * Laura Beers, Reviews in History *
An excellent guide to current thinking on these issues, and should be very useful for students as well as faculty concerned with the social basis of British politics. Highly recommended. * H.L. Smith, CHOICE *
offer[s] a fascinating discussion ... This book can be read and enjoyed by the general reader as we ll as the academic specialist * Iain Sharpe, Journal of Liberal History *
an outstanding piece of scholarship: it is a major original contribution to the field ... a path-breaking work that will demand attention of all those working on the period. * Andrew Thorpe, English Historical Review *
Ross McKibbin has encouraged a rich and complex approach to British history. We are all in his debt. * Rohan McWilliam, Tribune Magazine *
Table of Contents1. Edwardian Equipoise and the First World War ; 2. Unstable Equilibrium, 1918-1929 ; 3. The Crisis of Labour and the Conservative Hegemony, 1929-39 ; 4. The Party System Thrown Off Course ; 5. The English Road to Socialism ; 6. England: Social Change, Historical Accident and Democracy
