Chris Wrigley – författare

This textbook reviews major issues concerning the history of British trade unions in the last two-thirds of the twentieth century. Even with the decline in membership of the 1980s and 1990s, trade unions in Britain have remained the largest voluntary organisations in the country and the total membership has remained larger than in most other countries. The book discusses many major aspects of trade unionism and many controversies concerning it, including strikes (sometimes seen as a peculiarly 'British disease'). Trade union presence in the labour market has been deemed a cause of higher unemployment and lower productivity. The trade unions have been accused of being insensitive on gender and ethnicity. They have also been accused of being corporatist, unelected partners in government (especially in the 1940-79 period). Overall, this book gives students a lucid introduction to the recent history of British trade unionism.

This textbook reviews major issues concerning the history of British trade unions in the last two-thirds of the twentieth century. Even with the decline in membership of the 1980s and 1990s, trade unions in Britain have remained the largest voluntary organisations in the country and the total membership has remained larger than in most other countries. The book discusses many major aspects of trade unionism and many controversies concerning it, including strikes (sometimes seen as a peculiarly 'British disease'). Trade union presence in the labour market has been deemed a cause of higher unemployment and lower productivity. The trade unions have been accused of being insensitive on gender and ethnicity. They have also been accused of being corporatist, unelected partners in government (especially in the 1940-79 period). Overall, this book gives students a lucid introduction to the recent history of British trade unionism.

Professor Wrigley assesses the main features of Lloyd George's career from his early days as a fiery Welsh radical through the pre-First World War Liberal social reforms to his premiership (1916-1922) and after. He concludes with an assessment of the place of Lloyd George in British political history and a survey of the biographical material available.

This illustrated A–Z biographical companion presents information about all aspects of Winston Churchill's remarkable career, spotlighting the events and people with whom he was most closely associated.When Winston Churchill was still in his teens, he was already a man in a hurry—partly due to his fear that, like his father, he would die young. Born into aristocratic politics, he sought glory through battle as a means to secure a position in politics, fame, and money through the writing of books. To promote their careers, both he and his father made full use of their family connections and the allure of their social life.Among the telling details revealed are that his mother, Jennie Jerome (Lady Randolph), was an American heiress and was his major adviser and reliable friend when he was younger, and that his wife, Clementine, disliked and distrusted many of Winston's political cronies. This A–Z biographical dictionary covers everything from his grandiose spending, trademark agar and whiskey sodas, and silk underwear to his mother's many marriages and affairs, and his relationships with Edward VIII and Queen Elizabeth II.

The United Kingdom Since 1945: A Post-Imperial Nation is an economic and social history providing an appraisal of seventy-five years of British and Northern Irish history.The UK emerged from the Second World War victorious but impoverished. After a period of austerity, the UK participated in the boom in the international economy that continued from the 1950s until the 1970s. Harold Macmillan, the Conservative Party Prime Minister, famously told the electorate in 1957 that the country had ‘never had it so good’. With global decolonization, UK trade turned more to the European Economic Community (EEC) and less to the Commonwealth countries, with the UK joining the EEC and its successor the European Union, from 1973 until 2020. All four countries saw population growth, both from the birth rate and substantial net inward migration. But, as this volume argues, developments were not uncomplicated. The need for more housing, for example, was partly met by tower blocks, but some of these deteriorated after relatively short lives and were demolished, while others became sink estates. Urban change also saw the decline of shopping centres and small independent shops. In addition to examining this economic and social change, Chris Wrigley focuses on popular culture, from the growth in TV to developments in music and art, as well as the continued influences of declining entertainments like the music hall. The volume combines a focus on post-imperial features with a recognition of the long shadow cast by the Second World War.The United Kingdom Since 1945 is distinctive in its long timespan and its breadth of coverage, and is the perfect introduction for all readers interested in the complex contemporary history of this diverse nation.

The United Kingdom Since 1945: A Post-Imperial Nation is an economic and social history providing an appraisal of seventy-five years of British and Northern Irish history.The UK emerged from the Second World War victorious but impoverished. After a period of austerity, the UK participated in the boom in the international economy that continued from the 1950s until the 1970s. Harold Macmillan, the Conservative Party Prime Minister, famously told the electorate in 1957 that the country had ‘never had it so good’. With global decolonization, UK trade turned more to the European Economic Community (EEC) and less to the Commonwealth countries, with the UK joining the EEC and its successor the European Union, from 1973 until 2020. All four countries saw population growth, both from the birth rate and substantial net inward migration. But, as this volume argues, developments were not uncomplicated. The need for more housing, for example, was partly met by tower blocks, but some of these deteriorated after relatively short lives and were demolished, while others became sink estates. Urban change also saw the decline of shopping centres and small independent shops. In addition to examining this economic and social change, Chris Wrigley focuses on popular culture, from the growth in TV to developments in music and art, as well as the continued influences of declining entertainments like the music hall. The volume combines a focus on post-imperial features with a recognition of the long shadow cast by the Second World War.The United Kingdom Since 1945 is distinctive in its long timespan and its breadth of coverage, and is the perfect introduction for all readers interested in the complex contemporary history of this diverse nation.

This Companion brings together 32 new essays by leading historians to provide a reassessment of British history in the early twentieth century. The contributors present lucid introductions to the literature and debates on major aspects of the political, social and economic history of Britain between 1900 and 1939. Examines controversial issues over the social impact of the First World War, especially on womenProvides substantial coverage of changes in Wales, Scotland and Ireland as well as in EnglandIncludes a substantial bibliography, which will be a valuable guide to secondary sources

Premier historian Eric Hobsbawm's brilliant study of the Industrial Revolution, which sold more than a quarter of a million copies in its original edition, is now back in print, updated for a new generation. In Industry and Empire, Hobsbawm explores the origin and dramatic course of the Industrial Revolution over two hundred and fifty years and its influence on social and political institutions. He describes and accounts for Britain's rise as the first industrial power, its decline from domination, its special relation with the rest of the world, and the effects of this trajectory on the lives of its ordinary citizens. This new edition includes a fascinating summary of events of the last twenty years, and an illuminating new conclusion.

This authoritative history offers a major assessment of British industrial relations between the outbreak of the Second World War and the advent of Margaret Thatcher's government in 1979.Written by a group of leading specialists, this outstanding book examines the role of the government, the unions and employers, the influence of social welfare considerations on industrial relations policies and the patterns of strikes. Case studies focus on industrial relations in the docks, the motor manufacturing industry and road haulage between 1945 and 1979. A History of British Industrial Relations, 1939-1979 is both an up-to-date survey and a substantial addition to the literature which includes several chapters based upon new research. As well as revealing the complexities of British industrial relations in these four decades, the book also includes consideration of the extent to which, if at all, problems of industrial relations adversely affected the performance of the British economy.

When Churchill died, one might have thought that it was not a man who was being borne to his grave, but British history itself - a resplendent, fortunate history whose last illustrious chapter Churchill himself had written almost a quarter of a century before.