SID KESSLER is Professor Emeritus of Industrial Relations at City University Business School. He lectured at City University from 1964 to 1994, prior to which he was Head of Research at the National Union of Mineworkers for eight years. He is an Arbitrator for the Arbitration, Conciliation and Advisory Service, and a Deputy Chairman of the Central Arbitration Committee. Other appointments have been with the National Board for Prices and Incomes, the Commission on Industrial Relations and the Clegg Comparability Commission.FRED BAYLISS has been a Visiting Fellow at City University Business School since 1989. He retired from the Civil Service in 1986, having worked at the National Board for Prices and Incomes, the Commission on Industrial Relations, the Pay Board and the Department of Employment.

'An excellent concise assessment of post-war British industrial relations.' - Dr David Jeffrey, University of Stirling Review of 2nd edition: 'The first edition of Contemporary Industrial Relations was well received, and this second edition deserves an equally positive reception. It recounts often dramatic events in a readable style, the authors are astute in their judgements and comment with a great deal of authority, and it makes an important contribution to policy debate on industrial relations.' - Edmund Heery, Cardiff University

• IntroductionThe Early Post-War Decades, 1945-70The 1970sThe Economic BackgroundGovernment Values and PoliciesThe Law and Industrial RelationsEmployer and Management Strategies in the Private SectorGovernment as Employer and Quasi-EmployerTrade UnionsThe Institutions of Industrial RelationsPay and ProductivityStrikesAssessment and Implications for the Future.

SID KESSLER is Professor Emeritus of Industrial Relations at City University Business School. He lectured at City University from 1964 to 1994, prior to which he was Head of Research at the National Union of Mineworkers for eight years. He is an Arbitrator for the Arbitration, Conciliation and Advisory Service, and a Deputy Chairman of the Central Arbitration Committee. Other appointments have been with the National Board for Prices and Incomes, the Commission on Industrial Relations and the Clegg Comparability Commission.FRED BAYLISS has been a Visiting Fellow at City University Business School since 1989. He retired from the Civil Service in 1986, having worked at the National Board for Prices and Incomes, the Commission on Industrial Relations, the Pay Board and the Department of Employment.

'An excellent concise assessment of post-war British industrial relations.' - Dr David Jeffrey, University of Stirling Review of 2nd edition: 'The first edition of Contemporary Industrial Relations was well received, and this second edition deserves an equally positive reception. It recounts often dramatic events in a readable style, the authors are astute in their judgements and comment with a great deal of authority, and it makes an important contribution to policy debate on industrial relations.' - Edmund Heery, Cardiff University

• IntroductionThe Early Post-War Decades, 1945-70The 1970sThe Economic BackgroundGovernment Values and PoliciesThe Law and Industrial RelationsEmployer and Management Strategies in the Private SectorGovernment as Employer and Quasi-EmployerTrade UnionsThe Institutions of Industrial RelationsPay and ProductivityStrikesAssessment and Implications for the Future.