In FIFTY YEARS ON, Roy Hattersley explores and explains the events which have shaped modern Britain. Combining acute analysis of domestic politics with a brilliant eye for the bigger picture, his 'prejudiced history' takes the reader from the high hopes of 1945 to the cynicism of end-of century Britain. Roy Hattersley focuses his attention on two particular features of post-war the perpetuation of an education system which fails to meet the needs of the whole country, and our stubborn refusal to accept that the United Kingdom is a medium-sized European nation which can only increase its power and prosperity by real integration within the European union. FIFTY YEARS ON is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the forces that have shaped us.
Zips through fifty years of Britain from the end of the War to the Blair's landslide without anything particularly revolutionary or new to say, but very readable, entertaining and informative. The end of the post-war consensus, and its collectivist, corporatist assumptions, and the rise of Mrs Thatcher's suburban middle class and their strangle-hold on British politics. Embarrassingly soppy about the European Union and Britain's role within it (I physically cringed at points), and I would have liked more considered evaluation of anti-European arguments than this book provides, but perhaps that's for another book.