Packed with surprising examples and arguments, The Rise and Fall of the British Nation gives us a grown-up, unsentimental history which takes business and warfare seriously, and which is crucial at a moment of serious reconsideration for the country and its future.
But this is really a camoflaged polemic about the decline of manufacturing in the UK, especially since the 1970s and an attack on the era of fee trade and privatisation since then. Something in the description intrigued me I suppose.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 September 2018 It's very well written and, as a lay person I've no reason to believe it's not meticulously researched, but the relentlessness of the theme of decline becomes almost intolerable.
You can still see all customer reviews for the product. It has all the hallmarks of a serious academic work - a great wodge of footnotes at the back - lots of time series graphs (often in shades of grey not colour so hard to follow}. Amazon calculates a product’s star ratings based on a machine learned model instead of a raw data average. - Likewise the scathing account of New Labour is, if anything, even more dismissive. Relative economic decline was inevitable, even welcome, as other countries became more successful. The Rise and Fall of the British Nation by David Edgerton (Allen Lane, £30). Edgerton plays down the political and industrial stalemate of the late 1970s and misses one big political fact: the religiously sectarian aspect of the working-class Conservative vote right up until the 1970s. Indeed the Thatcher era was (according to this part of the book) facilitated and bankrolled by the availability of major nationalized entities for privatisation at great value (Hmmmmm ……. Nor does Edgerton shy away from cultural observations such as the notion that, thanks to the domination in the 1950s of heavy industry and a warfare state (including conscription), there was a “masculinisation” of the public sphere — the other side of the post-war promotion of female domesticity.
Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. No regrets about buying the book and enjoyed reading it but once and once only will do for me. Have to say it’s the best economically minded historical assessment of the UK I’ve read. He is just the man to hold your hand on a journey through the national balance sheet. The Rise and Fall of the British Nation: A Twentieth Century History. To order a copy for £25.50, go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. The Shock Of The Old: Technology and Global History since 1900 by David Edgerton Paperback CDN$27.63 the 90's cultural "Cool Britannia" is disparaged in a paragraph citing that none of the art or music was original - the author snootily points out that the Rolling Stones were still around. If you thought the U.K. used to have trade surpluses and always fed itself this will make you think again. British Leyland, British Steel, British Rail ??? I am not a historian, nor usually a reader of history books. As that implies, this is not always an easy read, yet it is far from dry. Yet there was no anti-technocratic elite. These Islands: A Letter To Britain by Ali M Ansari (Haus Publishing Ltd, £7.99). The content is well researched and often well written.
But you will not find a better informed history of this country in the last century.You can find our Community Guidelines in full Clearly the theme of the book is …………….. "everything you thought you knew about this period of British History is wrong" and hammering home this point gets repetitive to say the least. Having lost 40 per cent of its overseas assets between 1938 and 1956, Britain needed to boost exports and industry, and did so with some success, despite the persistent “declinist” assumptions of both contemporaries and historians.
Clear and enjoyable read. These detract greatly from the reading experience. Bought largely on the basis on his previous book about WWII and it follows and expands on this theme. This is partly because he takes on so many received ideas. I do not know why I chose this one. This item: Rise and Fall of the British Nation: A Twentieth-Century History Paperback CDN$27.25 Ships from and sold by Book Depository CA. Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate? Britain and the world but maybe not as you think it was A radical new history contends there was steady economic growth and social reformForget almost everything you thought you knew about Britain in the 20th century. Prime members enjoy fast & free shipping, unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Prime Video and many more exclusive benefits. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. The author's view of Tony Blair is not complimentary to say the least.