Customer Reviews

Austerity Britain: a World to Build

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A mixture of Vox Pop (through the reports of the innovative Mass Observation reports of the time & diarists - often the self selecting celebs of then and now) and analysis. Very comprehensive - this covers 1945-47 only - but at times perhaps too much so, leading to a desire to skim in places. I found the analysis chapters more interesting than the ones populated by witness quotes. Most intriguing was the chapter on the ideas behind state nationalisation - I had not realised the degree to which this was seen as a top down model with no real consideration given to the value or necessity of any employer participation. In most cases existing managers were kept in control. (One other point: did it always rain then? By chance the photos mostly appear to have been taken on damp, dark rainy days. As if the time was not depressing enough...) Nov '08 (***)

This is another in the historian's penetrating narratives and analyses of the late World War II and immediate post-war years in Britain. Insightful, accurate, and easy to read for both the historian and the curious. I lived through this period in England and can personally testify to the accuracy of his findings.

This book is recommended for the reader who wants to dig beneath the surface and anectdotal evidence to find out what it was really like.