War and progress : Britain, 1914-1945

The era of the two World Wars was a period of major transition in Britain, as elsewhere. It is often depicted in negative terms: the country struggling under the burdens of an unsustainable world role abroad, while undermined by depression and social division at home. In this striking contribution to the new Longman Economic and Social History of Britain, however, Peter Dewey finds a much more positive pattern in the wealth of evidence he lays before us. His is a story of economic achievement, and the emergence of a new sense of social community in the nation, rather than a lugubrious saga of disenchantment and decline. Every aspect of the period comes under his microscope. The topics he reviews include: the impact of the two wars themselves: changing patterns of international trade; the rise and decline of the different industrial sectors; government experiments in economic and social policy; changes in landownership; employment, unemployment and labour relations; health, housing and welfare; and the growing importance of leisure in the interwar years. Includes bibliographical references (pages 340-370) and index. xvii, 377 pages : maps ; 24 cm.