The People's Peace: British History, 1945-1989

by Kenneth O. Morgan, Morgan

Overview

The People's Peace 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 end of the era of Thatcherism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198227649
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	11/28/1990
Pages:	600
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.66(d)

About the Author

Kenneth O. Morgan is Principal of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, and is the author of such books as Labour People, Rebirth of a Nation: Wales 1880-1980, and is editor of The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain.

Editorial Reviews

"Comprehensive, good reading."--Keith A. Parker, University of South Florida

"An impressive achievement which will undoubtedly become, as it deserves, a basic work for all students of post-war British history."--Vernon Bagnafdor, Oxford University

From the Publisher

Rich in human incident, this searching, dispassionate, masterful history of postwar Britain avoids easy conclusions as it traces Britain's fall from preeminence as a world power. British historian Morgan argues that Labour leaders of 1945-61 were in no sense social radicals, that '50s affluence owed little to Conservative economic management, that '60s youth culture and permissiveness were only marginally factors for change. He bristles with sharp social observations, as when he notes BBC's ``careful preference for middle-class accents, life-styles and preferences.'' Although he credits Thatcher with ``ingrained pragmatism'' and suggests that she is more of a moderate than her critics have charged, he contends that her dismantling of the welfare state has brought record deficits, a ``huge underclass'' and sharper social divisions in a country locked in rigid, predetermined patterns and polarized between aging industrial north and thriving high-tech south, between the well-off and the low-paid or unemployed. Photos. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This book offers a well-crafted overview of politics and society in postwar Britain. Its author is a distinguished historian whose previous works include studies of Welsh nationalism and Labour Party politicians. Heralding the period 1945-61 as ``the era of advance,'' Morgan emphasizes the various ways in which the famous cohesion and civility of British society eroded as a result of economic decline and political mismanagement in the 1960s and 1970s. The Thatcher government, Morgan argues, has enjoyed only mixed success in reviving the economy and minimal success in restoring a sense of national purpose among the English, Welsh, and Scottish peoples. The author's judgments are generally fair, but he badly misjudges such phenomena as rock music, youth rebellion, and far-Left activism. Much of the same historical territory is covered in Colin Ley's Politics in Brit ain (Verso, 1989. 2d ed.). For specialists.--Kent Worcester, Columbia

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