Companion to Contemporary Britain 1939 - 2000

Paul Addison is Director of the Centre for WWII Studies at the University of Edinburgh. His books include The Road to 1945: British Politics and the Second World War (1975) and Churchill on the Home Front 1900-1955 (1992).Harriet Jones is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London.

A CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of the Year "This companion makes it easy to survey subjects quickly for the latest and best historiography, and provides lots of avenues by which to travel for further knowledge." (Journal of World History, September 2009)"[This volume] lives us to [the] high expectations of the series of Blackwell Companions. Informed, wide-ranging and up-to-date syntheses cover what might be regarded as standard subjects like the Second World War ... and the transformation of the British economy. More importantly, there are chapters on topics ignored by most histories of Britain; for example ... the suburbanization of Britain, sport and youth culture." (History)"A definitive textbook for contemporary British history. Its breadth of subjects is compelling, and the quality of its contributions ... superb, with many subjects dealt with by authors able to pour a career’s worth of groundbreaking research into their introductory surveys. Praise must be given for a consistently informative volume, which places so many interpretations and discussions in one place. Overall, Addison and Jones can congratulate themselves for editing a superb collection, one that can reasonably lay claim to being the foremost textbook on contemporary British history." (Reviews in History)

• List of Figures xList of Tables xiNotes on Contributors xiiiIntroduction 11 The Impact of the Second World War 3Paul Addison2 The Impact of the Cold War 23Harriet Jones3 Population and the Family 42Pat Thane4 Cities, Suburbs, Countryside 59Mark Clapson5 Class 76Arthur Marwick6 Immigration and Racism 93Wendy Webster7 Sport and Recreation 110Richard Holt8 Youth Culture 127Bill Osgerby9 Sexuality 145Lesley A. Hall10 Economic ‘Decline’ in Post-War Britain 164Jim Tomlinson11 The Transformation of the Economy 180Hugh Pemberton12 The Geography of Economic Change 203P. W. Daniels13 Living Standards and Consumption 226Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska14 Gender: Change and Continuity 245Dolly Smith Wilson15 Welfare, Poverty and Social Inequalities 263Janet Fink16 Education 281Roy Lowe17 Health 297John Welshman18 Rewriting the Unwritten Constitution 315Andrew Blick19 The Secret State 333Richard J. Aldrich20 Rethinking the ‘Rise and Fall’ of Two-Party Politics 351Steven Fielding21 The Rise and Disintegration of the Working Classes 371Robert Taylor22 The Growth of Social Movements 389Holger Nehring23 Civil Society 407Nicholas Deakin24 The Politics of Devolution 427Christopher Harvie25 The Politics of Northern Ireland 444Thomas Hennessey26 Britain in the World Economy 463Catherine R. Schenk27 The End of Empire 482Bill Schwarz28 The Anglo-American ‘Special Relationship’ 499Michael F. Hopkins and John W. Young29 Britain and Europe 517James Ellison30 British Defence Policy 539Simon BallSelect Bibliography 556Index 567