David Powell is a former journalist and prolific writer who has worked for Reuters and BBC Radio 4. His documentary Faces in a Crowd won a Grand Prix award at the Venice Film Festival.

• PrefaceIntroduction: The Victorian LegacyThe Social Crisis: Poverty, Social Reform and the StateThe Constitutional Crisis, 1909-11Suffragism and FeminismThe Challenge of LabourIreland and the Crisis of NationalismConclusionAppendix 1: ChronologyAppendix 2: General Election Results, 1906 and 1910NotesFurther ReadingIndex.