Description
Book SynopsisThe People''s Peace: Britain since 1945 is the first comprehensive study by a professional historian of British history from 1945 to the present day. It examines the transformation of post-war Britain from the planning enthusiasm of 1945 to the rise of New Labour. Its themes include the troubles of the British economy; public criticism of the legitimacy of the state and its instruments of authority; the co-existence of growing personal prosperity with widespread social inequality; and the debates aroused by decolonization, and Britain''s relationship to the Commonwealth, the US and Europe. Changes in cultural life, from the puritanical ''austerity'' of the 1940''s, through the ''permissiveness'' of the 1960s, to the tensions and achievements of recent years are also charted.Using a wide variety of sources, including the records of political parties and the most recently released documents from the Public Records Office, Kenneth Morgan brings the story right up to date and draws comparisons with the post-war history of other nations. This penetrating analysis by a leading twentieth-century historian will prove invaluable to anyone interested in the development of the Britain of today.
Trade ReviewReview from previous edition an outstanding work: comprehensive, lucid and judicious. * Ben Pimlott, Sunday Times *
Table of ContentsI. The Era of Advance, 1945-1961 1: The Facade of Unity 2: Labour's High Noon, 1945-1947 3: The Collectivist Retreat, 1948-1951 4: The Conservative Compromise, 1951-1956 5: The Zenith of One-Nation Toryism, 1957-1961 II. The Years of Retreat, 1961-1979 6: The Stagnant Society, 1961-1964 7: Labour Blown Off Course, 1964-1967 8: Years of Hard Slog, 1968-1970 9: The Heath Experiment, 1970-1974 10: Challenge to Consensus, 1974-1976 11: The Years of Discontent, 1977-1979 III. Thatcherism and its Aftermath, 1979-1998 12: The Foundations of Thatcherism, 1979-1983 13: High Noon for the New Right, 1983-1990 14: Fin de Siècle: New Labour in Power, 1990-2001 15: Millennial Perspectives, 2001 - 2008 16: From Crash to Brexit, 2008 - 20 Select Bibliography Index
