Our Times: The Age of Elizabeth II

by A.N. Wilson

When Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953, there were many who proclaimed that a new Elizabethan Age had begun. Few could have any inkling, however, of the changes that were going to take place, in Britain and around the world

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Andrew Norman Wilson is an English writer and newspaper columnist, known for his critical biographies, novels, works of popular history and religious views. He is an occasional columnist for the Daily Mail and former columnist for the London Evening Standard, and has been an occasional contributor to the Times Literary Supplement, New Statesman, The Spectator and The Observer.

Reviews

[David Bisset]

Compulsive reading! Andrew Wilson's views are not always mine, but he is never dull. This is not an academic survey of the period, but it is illuminated by the author's wit and intelligence. Not a perfect end to his trilogy, but a gallant endeavour.

[David Cheshire]

This openly anti-liberal survey of our recent history manages to be distasteful (a truly awful extended bulimia metaphor on Diana), disablist (ridiculing "Woy" Jenkins), snobbish (Heseltine is a "spiv" with an absurd home furnished like a "country house hotel") and quasi-racist (mocking how Scot Gordon Brown pronounces "vahlews").

But the real problem is his historical judgements, which are relentlessly half baked. Where to start? Suez was a success; the sixties had no impact; the Queen was wrong not to exercise the Royal Prerogative against Labour and the Scots; even the Beatles were rubbish, less original than the Rolling Stones. The Cabinet dumped Thatcher out of personal detestation, not, as he says a page earlier, because she's become an electoral liability. Britain no longer exists. Despite massive improvement and progress our common culture has been destroyed: by prosperity, but also by immigration, Muslim schools, the EU, the Big Bang (the 1986 one), skyscrapers,the General Synod and Gordon Brown taking Britannia off the coins. And of course New Labour. No longer do we collectively do National Service, share the same rations. Even the Queen "one suspects...had come to feel a stranger there" (i.e. here).

He concludes by lamenting that only "certain conservative romantics" mourn Britannia's loss, like a family mourning a missing person, while the rest of us "bloated by illegal narcotics and American junk food sit in front of the television in the downstairs room and did not notice that she had gone."

The word tosh doesn't quite do it. One is irresistibly reminded of Margot Asquith's description of Cripps: "he has an excellent mind, until he makes it up." Wilson is a novelist, apparently a rather good one. He isn't really an historian, not even a bad one. I don't think it's just me; if you want to see a proper demolition job of Wilson the historian, see Richard Evans' lengthy "New Statesman" review (12/3/12) which pans Wilson's new Hitler biography.

But, I feel obliged to add, this book has entertainment value as a lively, grossly uneven and maverick account. There are some good lines (which he tends to repeat!) And at least he doesn't always slavishly follow the correct right-wing party line. With this health warning, why not?

[Nathan]

A.N. Wilson blurs the line between social history and personal soapbox in this swoop through British modernity. Readers of his earlier works will be familiar with his talent in producing a cohesive story out of seemingly disparate events, as well as his admirable ability to bring out the humanity of historical figures. What came as an unpleasant surprise to me was the attitude he brought to this history. It's full of socially-conservative whingeing about everything from the Sex Pistols to the media's obsession with Lady Diana's death. "Our Times" usually reads like "Back In My Day", and it's annoying. The social conservatives are given the last word in this account, apparently mirroring Wilson's own trepidation about the changing of British society. This will probably appeal to readers who lean towards Wilson's point of view, but I was expecting something more objective and was disappointed.

[Stephen Wood]

It’s dense book, as it needs to be given how much A N Wilson crams into it. This is ANW’s take on the changes which have occurred in British society over the period he calls “Our Times” – the reign of Elizabeth II. The change he mourns is the loss of Englishness as it used to be, the loss of Britannia. It’s far too complicated to summarise in a review such as this, but it’s not a wailing despondency, rather a measured look at how political policies, and the natural changes in society as it evolves, have resulted in a very different Britain.
Elizabeth was crowned in 1953, the year of my birth. So the period ANW examines is my lifetime. Even so, I learned a lot. Events I kind of remember have causation added, so while I remember Chamberlain, the 3 day week, the Cuban crisis etc., ANW explains why and how (in his view) these things happened. Of course it’s subjective. Of course it’s opinionated. But I am personally far better informed having read this book.
The book was published in 2008, so there have been 12 years since then for us to consider whether Wilson’s assessment of the way things are going (it would be inaccurate to call them “predictions”) has been borne out. And mostly it has.
Dominic Sandbrook of The Observer described it as “very funny, extremely opinionated….endlessly entertaining”. I’m not sure I’d call it “very funny” but there’s plenty of Wilson’s quiet, cynical humour. And it is certainly entertaining.
If you have any interest in how Britain evolved in these 55 years, you have to read this book.

[Gregory Thompson]

Mixed Feelings - Very Readable but Somehow Unsatisfying

I enjoyed reading this book - but I finished it thinking that it did not quite fulfill my expectations. It is well written and seems well researched (although I read that Wikipedia was one of the sources) and quite comprehensive, but it felt like the author did not know how to coalesce the many themes (religion, race, economics, politics, popular culture etc) into a clear view of where Britain is today - other than it has been on a downward progression since WWII. It may be too simplistic to expect a neatly wrapped and tied conclusion, however when QEII's obituary is written it will be done by someone.
Many of England's traditions - the pomp and circumstance, sporting events etc still define England to many outsiders, and these have not changed much through the years - "There'll Always be an England”.

[Ron Hardwick]

What a mind Mr Wilson has! Such superb and informative writing! If you want to learn that Harold MacMillan was cuckolded by Lord Bob Boothby, who carried on a long-term affair with McMillan's wife Dorothy; the facts behind the Profumo affair and the disgraceful treatment of Stephen Ward; mods and rockers, Beatlemania, the frozen smile and sexuality of Edward Heath; the slipperiness of Harold Wilson, the buffoonery of Jim Callaghan; the greed of Mrs Thatcher's 80's yuppies and the violence of the riots and miners' strike; the messianic visions of Mr Blair and the ramrod straight Calvinism of his successor, it's all in this book. It's a riveting read and I guarantee you won't be able to put it down once you start reading it. In addition, Mr Wilson's acerbic wit ensures that this does not read like an academic's history book - it's alive and he does not duck contentious issues - he calls it as he sees it. When I finished the book, I had a different view of the social development of Britain during the reign of the late, lamented Queen, and it was a much more bitter view than I had formerly adopted.

[Neal Smith]

An iconoclastic gallop through post war Britain. Willson enjoys himself laying into targets right, left and centre. Very few of the major protagonists come out well with the exception of Margaret Thatcher and, perhaps more surprisingly, John Major. Wilson prefers the Rolling Stones and Dylan over the Beatles and has some fun with the more outlandish excesses of the 60s.
As a right wing view of the state of the country, this is hard to beat for sheer verve and savagery. Balanced it is not and some readers may find some sections in poor taste. It doesn’t square with my political views but nevertheless I found it difficult to put down. Enjoyable, surprising and highly entertaining.

[Philip Tidman]

A well-written account of the UK since the early 1950s, though with a clear right-wing bias. Wilson blames all the nation’s ills over the last 70 years on socialism, gives grudging respect to Harold Wilson and Tony Blair, and a fawning admiration of Margaret Thatcher, though to give him credit he does criticise the way the Establishment have kept themselves in power, and the way they have misused that power. He is also highly critical of immigration. At one point he even claims the murder of Blair Peach was an accident and attempts to cast doubt on his killer being a police officer.

[Cal]

How can you be sure of immediately pissing me off in a publication? Start by sloppily but extensively referencing a book series I loathe by a fave author. Skimming all references to TLoTR now, and any statistic-heavy areas.

I had been wanting to read this so much that I pre-ordered it, as generally enjoy this author. It may be the heightened anticipation of having FINALLY gotten a copy, but I frankly feel misled

[Brian Gowthorpe]

A confident and propulsive writer. It is always useful to read a retrospective of an era that one has lived through.

[Tishly Herrington]

It started out interesting, but it just rambled on and on and on.

[Sandie]

A.N. Wilson is an English writer and commentator. He has written a series of books explaining Britain's history, memorable biographies as well as a series of fiction novels. This book, Our Times, covers the time period from the ascension of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 to the present. While it is set during her reign, this is not a biography of the Queen and in fact she is not even a main focus of the book.

The focus is a wide survey of all that makes up Britain. Each political faction and leader is portrayed, with their rise to fame and their accomplishments and shortcomings explored. The book also covers other areas of British life. Britain's role on the world stage is covered as well as its waning influence in world affairs. The economic life of the country is explored with a realization that the country is currently in better shape than the years after the World Wars when Britain was brought to poverty by the enormous amount of money and lives that it took to be victorious. The loss of the colonies and the end of the British Empire has occurred.

There are chapters that explore the Irish rebellion and the world of the IRA. Unions and the breaking of the coal miners strike is a topic covered in depth. There are chapters on literature, the rise of rock music, the changing sexual mores and women's liberation. The changes that have occurred with the rise of immigrants from Middle Eastern and Asian countries is covered. The book ends with a highly relevant look at the rise of militant Islam and how it will affect all our lives going forward. Although the book is focused on the period of Queen Elizabeth's reign, the royal family is not a main focus, although there is a chapter on the story of Princess Charles and Princess Diana.

As an American, it is interesting to see how the English view their world and the world around them. The focus is not on America, but the inevitable influence of the American culture is discussed in depth. We don't come off that well, but then again, A.N. Wilson seems to not think that well of anyone. His sharp, witty exposure of various persons and their motivations for their actions on the world stage is cutting and sometimes malicious.

A.N. Wilson was educated at Oxford. Although he was originally focused on joining the religious life, he later became an atheist and spent thirty years mocking religion. In his later years he has returned to religion and now uses his sharp pen to jab those who are against religion. His writing has won accolades. In 1988, he won the Whitbread Award for best biography and has written biographies on C.S. Lewis, Walter Scott, Hilaire Bellloc, Tolstoy and Iris Murdoch. This book is part of a three part history of Britain. The others in the trilogy are The Victorians and After The Victorians. This book is recommended for history readers.

[Carly Thompson]

A.N. Wilson covers the history of Great Britain during Queen Elizabeth II's reign (1952 - present) with events ending in 2008 under the leadership of Gordon Brown. I was disappointed by this book and felt that it didn't live up to the previous volumes in the trilogy ( The Victorians and After the Victorians). Wilson writes from a small c conservative viewpoint about the changes to the British identity over the past 50 years. He claims that a sense of a core British identity has evaporated as the nation became more Americanized, multi-ethnic, and lost its superpower status. Wilson profiles each of the Prime Ministers and covers events and personalities such as the Suez Canal Crisis, the murder of Stephen Lawrence and the tabloid fascination of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Each of these chapters offers enough material for an entire book of its none, and I felt that in certain instances Wilson just crammed in a few paragraphs about one topic before moving on to something else. Wilson draws exclusively on secondary sources for his information (and in many instances his own opinion) and found myself wishing that I was reading one of his book length sources instead. Wilson's style and blunt opinions are the main draw of this history and while I found that I enjoyed the style, at times it was too conservative and reactionary for me. (Example when writing of the Beatles, "They bequeathed to the world the annoying legacy that entertainers, rather than being humble enough to entertain, should inflict their half-baked view of economics, meteorology and politics to those who had been gullible enough to buy their recordings." 196). The book also needed an American editor to fix mistakes such as describing Lyndon Johnson as Kennedy's deputy president and to explain things that are unfamiliar to American readers such as the difference between grammar schools and comprehensive schools and why the closing of grammar schools was important. A flawed book about an interesting time frame.

[Terence]

I liked this book, mostly because I like this period of history and nowadays teach a course on it. I find that we tend to stress many of the same moments as being of significance. Some of his judgements I found myself in agreement with, although others were just foreign. Wilson has no time for Harold MacMillan, for example. I can't say I have a strong opinion either way. We both have a keen dislike for Tony Blair, although here I wish he would have emphasized more the role of people like Lord Levy in the formation of Blair's politics, rather than focusing on the "New Age" aspect of Tony's personality. Wilson argues strongly, but for me without sufficient demonstration, for the lack of wisdom of mid-60s Labour economic policy. It would have been interesting to read a monetarist critique of Harold Wilson's government. I was surprised to see the author argue that Suez would have been a British success, had it not been for the US. Surely the author realizes that the US imposition was necessary to make the British realize their real place in the past-war US scheme of things? To read back into this earlier moment later Middle East policy of US-UK collaboration seems a mistake. I would also have liked to have seen the author explore the reasons why Harold Wilson elevated so many seemingly unworthy candidates for various honours at the end of his final term in office. The explanation on offer -- that Wilson was losing his mind -- seems false. I note that a couple of the previous reviews have savaged the book because they disagree with Wilson's judgments. I guess I no longer find that I need to agree with someone's every word -- or even ideological outlook -- to enjoy reading a book. Wilson mostly writes well, although I agree with another reviewer that the reference to Roy Jenkins as "Woy" is out of place. Personally, I rather like Roy Jenkins, since he made Britain a more civilized, grown-up country. Overall, I would recommend this as a useful intro to the period.

[John Sheets]

I chose this because I am of the era, and post-war Britain is one of my current interests. I was piqued by the way Wilson presents history--totally driven by characters like a novel--and this was surprisingly gossipy (or maybe not surprisingly?) I was struck by the almost sniping way he dismisses certain PM's--Harold Wilson, Edward Heath--but his description of the end of the Churchill era was worth the book. To compare with the Peter Hennessy Never Again Britain, 1945-1951 and David Kynaston, Austerity Britain which cover some of the same time in a completely different way. I think the book suffers from a lack of an overarching theory of the forces shaping Our Times--but that is probably the historian in me.

[Bev]

The book covers the years of Britain from 1952 to 2008 when Elizabeth was queen and is a history of how British culture changed in that time. Discusses all those who were important to the culture from Prime Ministers, royalty, authors and celebrities. The author has written much fiction as well as non-fiction and I felt the perspective was from a fiction writer who wrote what was exciting. Made it interesting but didn't feel it got to the meat of the personalities. Everything scandalous was included but not details that would help me understand why things happened.

[Julianne Quaine]

Quite interesting to read a book which provides a history of the time in which my life has been lived to date. Covering the reign of QEII who became monarch a few year before I was born to 2008 I found it a very interesting read. The author has some rather right wing views so quite some food for thought. Despite the focus on Britain the book gives a good insight to the shaping of our times.

[Russell Hall]

Normally my knowledge of British History stops at World War II but this book was a great peak at what came after. Guided by a conservative, yet thorough scholar, we can view the reign of Elizabeth II in a more detailed and colorful view of Britain in the past fifty years.

[Bettie]

17.12.2014 Looking through the reviews, I have changed my mind about reading this.

Too many books, so little time, and all that!

[Sharen]

Popular history by A.N. Wilson, who can turn a phrase neatly and is amusing as well as opinionated. An interesting read though....

[Marty St. George]

Let me summarize: "England was a great great country until all the foreigners and liberals came in and ruined it"