Seeking a Role The United Kingdom, 1951-1970

by Harrison, Brian

• ISBN13: 9780199605132
• ISBN10: 0199605130
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-03-08
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In this, the first of two self-standing volumes bringingThe New Oxford History of Englandup to the present, Brian Harrison begins in 1951 with much of the empire intact and Britain enjoying high prestige in Europe. The United Kingdom could still then claim to be a great power whose welfare state exemplified compromise between Soviet planning and the USA's free market. When the volume ends in 1970, no such claims carried conviction. The empire had gone, central planning was in trouble, and even the British political system had become controversial. In an unusually wide-ranging, yet impressively detailed volume, Harrison approaches the period from unfamiliar directions. He explains how British politicians in the 1950s and 1960s responded to this transition by pursuing successive roles for Britain: worldwide as champion of freedom, and in Europe as exemplar of parliamentary government, the multi-racial society, and economic planning. His main focus, though, rests not on the politicians but on the decisions the British people made largely for themselves: on their environment, social structure and attitudes, race relations, family patterns, economic framework, and cultural opportunities. By 1970 the consumer society had supplanted postwar austerity, the socialist vision was fading, and 'the sixties' (the theme of his penultimate chapter) had introduced new and even exotic themes and values. Having lost an empire, Britain was still resourcefully seeking a role: it had yet to find it.

Author Biography

Brian Harrison is Emeritus Professor of Modern British History at the University of Oxford, and has published widely on British history from the 1790s to the present.

Table of Contents

List of Plates	p. x
List of Illustrations	p. xii
Abbreviations	p. xiii
Introduction	p. xv
The United Kingdom in 1951	p. 1
The United Kingdom and the World	p. 1
The Face of the Country	p. 12
The Social Structure	p. 16
Family and Welfare	p. 28
Industry and Commerce	p. 39
Intellect and Culture	p. 48
Politics and Government	p. 59
A Backward and Forward Look	p. 67
The United Kingdom and the World	p. 70
Dimensions of Internationalism	p. 70
Worldwide Migrations	p. 79
The 'Cold War'	p. 87
Empire to Commonwealth	p. 101
An Empire in Europe?	p. 114
The Face of the Country	p. 123
Environmentalism Aroused	p. 123
Transport Revolutions	p. 136
Urban Utopia Postponed	p. 146
A Kaleidoscope of Regions	p. 164
The Social Structure	p. 176
Monarchy Moves with the Times	p. 178
Upper-Class Resilience	p. 183
Middle-Class Evangelism	p. 199
Working-Class Eclipse?	p. 209
Minorities Old and New	p. 217
Family and Welfare	p. 234
Sexuality in Question	p. 234
Women's Two Roles	p. 249
A New Map of Youth	p. 255
A Welfare Consensus	p. 264
National Health Triumphant?	p. 272
Life and Death	p. 282
The End of the Family?	p. 294
Industry and Commerce	p. 301
Consensus Corporatism	p. 301
From Manufacturing to Services	p. 311
A New Life at Work	p. 321
Managed Consumerism	p. 330
Intellect and Culture	p. 339
Christians in Difficulty	p. 339
High Hopes for the Schools	p. 348
University Bonanza	p. 357
Aesthetic Cornucopia	p. 370
Recreation Diversified	p. 383
Politics and Government	p. 403
A Flexible Executive	p. 405
A Prestigious Parliament	p. 417
Pluralistic Centralism	p. 422
Conservatives in the Middle	p. 435
Labour Facing Two Ways	p. 442
Public Opinion Anatomized	p. 460
The Sixties'	p. 472
The Sixties Begin	p. 472
Youth in Vogue	p. 472
A Disconcerting Sincerity	p. 491
Politicians under Fire	p. 498
Puritanism Repudiated?	p. 506
The Sixties End?	p. 517
Retrospect	p. 532
Chronology	p. 547
Bibliography	p. 579
Index	p. 601
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.