Book Description

Each volume in the Longman Companions to History series, under the General Editorship of Chris Cook and John Stevenson, provides a handy reference work to a major area of historical study, and is written by a leading scholar in the field. The period between 1914 and 1945 is a key phase in the history of Britain: in barely thirty years the Edwardian world had been transformed unrecognizably, through war, technological progress and social change, into a new age of nuclear anxiety, poised on the threshold of the Cold War. At the start of the period Britain was the world's leading great power; by 1945, though she was scarcely yet aware of it, hegemony had passed to her victorious allies, the United States and the Soviet Union, and a new bipolar age had been ushered in. The years between saw the coming of mass democracy, the apogee of empire, the Depression, the threat of fascism, the development of a suburban society, and much else: all of which is dealt with in this superbly rich contribution to the Companions series. In it, Andrew Thorpe provides a mass of information on the period which, while not new in itself, has never before been gathered together in a single, accessible volume aimed specifically at students, teachers and general readers. It includes: a Chronology of the main political events of the period; list of Ministries, office holders and elections; detailed accounts of Political parties; notes on Legislation and local government; information and statistics on Social issues, including population, education, health, gender and sexuality, crime, the news media, and religion; information and statistics on Economic issues, including trade, prices, unemployment, agriculture, industry, finance, the unions and transport; the main developments in Foreign and imperial affairs; accounts of the two World Wars; Concise biographies of the key figures of the age; an extensive Glossary of terms, and a select Topic bibliography. Incisive, systematic, wide-ranging and easy to use, this is an indispensable aid to anyone interested in the history and politics of Britain in the first half of the twentieth century. Like the series generally, it has been purpose-built for student needs. It is not merely a shelf-book for occasional reference, but an intensely practical desk-companion for continuous useand, like all good compilations of its kind, richly rewarding to browse in as well.