Family Britain, 1951-1957 (Tales of a New Jerusalem)
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Review
I could quote forever from this magnificent book. Professor Kynaston is the most entertaining historian alive, and his Tales of a New Jerusalem, when concluded, will undoubtedly be the first stop for any reader interested in the vitality, rather than the general contours, of this long period. --The Spectator
Kynaston's book is a deeply textured tapestry of everyday life the day before yesterday, a collage of diaries and memoirs every bit as rich and rewarding as a great Victorian novel... Kynaston is a master of these kinds of stories, funny and touching by turns... Plenty of historians have written about it before. But none have captured it better or with more human sympathy than David Kynaston, in this deeply researched, richly detailed and very moving book. --The Telegraph
David Kynaston selects his words with the precise and evocative care of a Metaphysical poet exploring a new-found land... It is the great strength of Kynaston's almost Shakespearian approach to social history -- a vast canvas, huge detail, imaginative empathy and wise authorial neutrality -- that he allows one half of his readers to wallow comfortably in nostalgia while the other half shudders with relief that the 1950s are half a century behind us... On almost every page there is an arresting detail, statistic or quotation. --The Sunday Times
The second volume of David Kynaston's chronicle of postwar Britain has the virtues of the first - insight into the concerns of everyday people as well as those of their rulers.
--The Observer
`Marvellously entertaining' --Philip Hensher, Spectator Books of the Year
`Kynaston has dredged reminiscences, diaries, political archives, newspapers and magazines for every scrap of interest and detail.' --Joan Bakewell, Observer Books of the Year
`David Kynaston, in the brilliant second volume of his social history of Britain, has taken a microscope, and then a sharp scalpel, to that one-dimensional halcyon memory ... weaving an intricate tapestry of the national mood' --Ben Macintyre, Times
`With his second brick-sized volume, Family Britain 1951-57, David Kynaston magnificently continues his sociocultural history of postwar Britain, bringing my formative years into sharper focus on every page' --Philip French, Observer Books of the Year
`David Kynaston has done it again ... he has created a living, breathing, talking, singing, dancing, grumbling and complaining portrait of the British as they used to be'
--Literary Review --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Kynaston's book is a deeply textured tapestry of everyday life the day before yesterday, a collage of diaries and memoirs every bit as rich and rewarding as a great Victorian novel... Kynaston is a master of these kinds of stories, funny and touching by turns... Plenty of historians have written about it before. But none have captured it better or with more human sympathy than David Kynaston, in this deeply researched, richly detailed and very moving book. --The Telegraph
David Kynaston selects his words with the precise and evocative care of a Metaphysical poet exploring a new-found land... It is the great strength of Kynaston's almost Shakespearian approach to social history -- a vast canvas, huge detail, imaginative empathy and wise authorial neutrality -- that he allows one half of his readers to wallow comfortably in nostalgia while the other half shudders with relief that the 1950s are half a century behind us... On almost every page there is an arresting detail, statistic or quotation. --The Sunday Times
The second volume of David Kynaston's chronicle of postwar Britain has the virtues of the first - insight into the concerns of everyday people as well as those of their rulers.
--The Observer
`Marvellously entertaining' --Philip Hensher, Spectator Books of the Year
`Kynaston has dredged reminiscences, diaries, political archives, newspapers and magazines for every scrap of interest and detail.' --Joan Bakewell, Observer Books of the Year
`David Kynaston, in the brilliant second volume of his social history of Britain, has taken a microscope, and then a sharp scalpel, to that one-dimensional halcyon memory ... weaving an intricate tapestry of the national mood' --Ben Macintyre, Times
`With his second brick-sized volume, Family Britain 1951-57, David Kynaston magnificently continues his sociocultural history of postwar Britain, bringing my formative years into sharper focus on every page' --Philip French, Observer Books of the Year
`David Kynaston has done it again ... he has created a living, breathing, talking, singing, dancing, grumbling and complaining portrait of the British as they used to be'
--Literary Review --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
PRAISE FOR AUSTERITY BRITAIN: 'This wonderful volume is only the first in a series that will take us to 1979 and the election of Margaret Thatcher. When complete, Kynaston's skill in mixing eyewitness accounts and political analysis will surely be one of the greatest and most enduring publishing ventures for generations.' Brian Thompson, Observer 'Even readers who can remember the years Kynaston writes about will find they are continually surprised by the richness and diversity of his material ... mouth-watering' John Carey, Sunday Times 'The book is a marvel ... the level of detail is precise and fascinating' John Campbell, Sunday Telegraph 'A wonderfully illuminating picture of the way we were' Roy Hattersley, The Times
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
60 of 62 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Family Britain by David Kynaston is a comprehensive study of life in Britain after the Second World War. It is very well researched and although over 700 pages long it is written in a style which makes few strenuous demands on the reader - the pages can be turned quickly and effortlessly as the narrative unfolds.
It covers a wide range of domestic issues, focusing both on the poorer sections of society and those who survived the deprivations of the war from a better-off postion. The politics are carefully explained, supported by extensive quotations drawn from a wide range of sources. The author also brings into the picture vignettes of certain people who have susequently become more well-known showing where they were in their chilhood days of the 50s.
For those of us who were brought up in this period, this book provides a useful reminder of how our own lives formed part of the greater pattern of change that was unfolding. It also helps to place our own experiences into perspective. My only slight criticism is that the chapters occasionally jump from one topic to another without a clear link, but the chronlogy of the period 1951-1957 is always maintained.
It covers a wide range of domestic issues, focusing both on the poorer sections of society and those who survived the deprivations of the war from a better-off postion. The politics are carefully explained, supported by extensive quotations drawn from a wide range of sources. The author also brings into the picture vignettes of certain people who have susequently become more well-known showing where they were in their chilhood days of the 50s.
For those of us who were brought up in this period, this book provides a useful reminder of how our own lives formed part of the greater pattern of change that was unfolding. It also helps to place our own experiences into perspective. My only slight criticism is that the chapters occasionally jump from one topic to another without a clear link, but the chronlogy of the period 1951-1957 is always maintained.
40 of 42 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This awesome study is the follow-up to Austerity Britain 1945-1951, and if you've read that book then you will know what to expect here. Family Britain contains the same mixture of social issues, politics, cultural developments and personal reminiscences - drawn from a wide variety of sources including Mass Observation studies and personal diaries (we continue following the lives of Nella Last, Judy Haines, Anthony Heap and the other private diarists from the first book) - with the emphasis always on how the great events and changing times affected ordinary people living ordinary lives.
(Also what may or may not become worth noting for when the paperback/s come out: Family Britain is divided into two 'books' - 'The Certainties of Place' and 'A Thicker Cut', in the same way that Austerity Britain comprised the books 'A World to Build' and 'Smoke in the Valley.')
Beginning with the Festival of Britain and ending with Eden's resignation, the book goes through the years basically chronologically, but pauses to consider the general themes and social issues of the period looking at race, class, housing, secondary schools, religion, the place of women and of course family life among many other things.
It really is a fascinating book, breathtaking in its scope and range of sources and at all times a joy to read. It was also very satisfying how the author looked at issues in order to test our conventional wisdom of the period and - pleasingly - often shows how much more complicated the true picture is (eg the place of Christianity in Britain or the state of neighbourliness and sense of community etc.) It is also frequently pretty funny, with wry asides and the inclusion of the odd amusing response in with the contemporaneous survey evidence ("Sorry, can't talk ducks look - I got no teeth!) and I always looked forward to the latest reviews from the private diary of minor civil servant and theatre nut Anthony Heap (Waiting for Godot is "infantile...dreary...preposterous," Look Back In Anger is "monotonous...puerile...nauseating.") In addition to the voices featured in the previous book we follow such now-well-known figures as Kingsley Amis, Philip Larkin, Doris Lessing and John Fowles as well as hearing mention of kids like 'Mike' Jagger and Christine Keeler, foreshadowing the next instalment.
I would have liked a bit more politics (not at the expense of anything else though) and some of the transitions between paragraphs were a bit silly (eg after talking about two people he might continue with: "Probably neither were in Ipswich two days later when..." etc.) Plus, although the book does spend a fair amount of time in Glasgow and the English North and Midlands as well as the South, there isn't much about Wales, the rest of Scotland or Northern Ireland (nothing at all if I remember rightly) - which I know a lot of people take issue over with books that claim to be about 'Britain.'
Having said that, this book is a fantastic read for anyone with an interest in recent history and, I would think, an invaluable resource for any student or anyone
with a professional interest in this period. You don't have to have read the previous volume to enjoy this book I'm sure, though I read Austerity Britain directly before reading this so I've basically just read 1,350 pages of this stuff and if the subsequent volumes were available I would happily read straight through to the page 3,500 or whatever it will be when this series is finished. From the afterword in this book we can infer that the next volume will be called Modernity Britain.
(Also what may or may not become worth noting for when the paperback/s come out: Family Britain is divided into two 'books' - 'The Certainties of Place' and 'A Thicker Cut', in the same way that Austerity Britain comprised the books 'A World to Build' and 'Smoke in the Valley.')
Beginning with the Festival of Britain and ending with Eden's resignation, the book goes through the years basically chronologically, but pauses to consider the general themes and social issues of the period looking at race, class, housing, secondary schools, religion, the place of women and of course family life among many other things.
It really is a fascinating book, breathtaking in its scope and range of sources and at all times a joy to read. It was also very satisfying how the author looked at issues in order to test our conventional wisdom of the period and - pleasingly - often shows how much more complicated the true picture is (eg the place of Christianity in Britain or the state of neighbourliness and sense of community etc.) It is also frequently pretty funny, with wry asides and the inclusion of the odd amusing response in with the contemporaneous survey evidence ("Sorry, can't talk ducks look - I got no teeth!) and I always looked forward to the latest reviews from the private diary of minor civil servant and theatre nut Anthony Heap (Waiting for Godot is "infantile...dreary...preposterous," Look Back In Anger is "monotonous...puerile...nauseating.") In addition to the voices featured in the previous book we follow such now-well-known figures as Kingsley Amis, Philip Larkin, Doris Lessing and John Fowles as well as hearing mention of kids like 'Mike' Jagger and Christine Keeler, foreshadowing the next instalment.
I would have liked a bit more politics (not at the expense of anything else though) and some of the transitions between paragraphs were a bit silly (eg after talking about two people he might continue with: "Probably neither were in Ipswich two days later when..." etc.) Plus, although the book does spend a fair amount of time in Glasgow and the English North and Midlands as well as the South, there isn't much about Wales, the rest of Scotland or Northern Ireland (nothing at all if I remember rightly) - which I know a lot of people take issue over with books that claim to be about 'Britain.'
Having said that, this book is a fantastic read for anyone with an interest in recent history and, I would think, an invaluable resource for any student or anyone
with a professional interest in this period. You don't have to have read the previous volume to enjoy this book I'm sure, though I read Austerity Britain directly before reading this so I've basically just read 1,350 pages of this stuff and if the subsequent volumes were available I would happily read straight through to the page 3,500 or whatever it will be when this series is finished. From the afterword in this book we can infer that the next volume will be called Modernity Britain.
34 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Having lived through the times detailed in the book, I can recall incidents that had slipped my mind. The details contained in the book are really quite outstanding, and I would recommend it to any student of the period.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
excess baggage
Pity the poor "recent historian". Half his readership want to know the world of Mum and Dad, half want to read history. (And another half is both. Read more
Published 2 months ago by James-philip Harries
Family Britain
Having just completed reading this volume, I can't wait for the next one! I read Austerity Britain, as my parents were involved in the war, and I was born 2 years before the end of... Read more
Published 9 months ago by dave1510
The Land of Lost Content?
This is the second volume of David Kynaston's monumental social history of post-war Britain and, for both the history buff and the interested layman, this really is a book to... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Free Radical
Excellent book
A fascinating book full of detail but a very easy read.I grew up in this era but found out lots of things I didn't know. Highly recommended.
Published 13 months ago by Mrs. CE Cobb
An excellent read
Having just finneshed this book i can say what an excellent read it was
and will probably read it aagain in the not to distant
only down side is jumping from one subject... Read more
and will probably read it aagain in the not to distant
only down side is jumping from one subject... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Mr. M. Dunstan
Britain as it was
This is Britain as it was in tbose years. A must read for every voter at a time when myths and legends are perpetrated by the media and truths conveniently forgotten.
Published 18 months ago by Mr. Brian Jones
An absorbing read
This is manna from heaven for anybody interested in social history. I agree with another reviewer who said that it was a bit unstructured, but that suits me in that I'm only... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Hector Gussett
Another great read.
I had read the two Kynaston books that preceded this one and thought them excellent. This latest book did not disappoint. Read more
Published 20 months ago by rosemarie stubbs
A glimpse of life in early 1950's
This book follows on from 'Austerity Britain' it is great to read as it is both anecdotal of people's lives and recounts life as it was to be there then.
Published 21 months ago by Mrs. J. Whitty
Porridge with a few Prunes
Say the post war history of Britain is represented by a crossing from Calais to Dover. You would like to be sailing the ocean getting the sea air and eating well in Langan's... Read more
Published 21 months ago by R. THOMAS
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