- Hardcover: 432 pages
- Publisher: Jonathan Cape (4 Oct 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0224073060
- ISBN-13: 978-0224073066
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.6 x 4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 848,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
New Statesman
`Eye-openingly good'
Telegraph
'Garnett is a fine guide to the sheer grimness of life 30 years ago'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There is a decent amount of research behind parts of this book (though some glaring gaps) and Mark Garnett makes some interesting points, but as a work of social history it is somewhat careless in places. The themes Garnett chooses are important ones and at times he serves them well. In places, he has an acute eye for the significance of certain developments (especially in the chapters on lust and greed). However, he is also far too prone to make sweeping judgements based on little or no evidence. This is particularly so when he pronounces on the state of British culture or the views and attitudes of the British people based on little more than an incident or two or a particular tabloid feeding frenzy. In some places he seems to believe that his personal experience of the period counts as valid evidence. This is always a risk when writing about a period one lived through. However, this approach only works for glib journalists who can be confident that no one will be reading their off-the-cuff analysis a week later. A more thorough approach to researching particular issues (the Falklands War and the development of the Premier League are but two minor examples) would have avoided overly-simplistic comments about them. There are plenty of books and articles out there that could have given him the required depth without adding significantly to the length.
Towards the end, the book starts to become disfigured by what turns into one long rang against Blair, New Labour and all their works (with the occasional nod to some decent things they have done). Not that this is objectionable in itself - many millions will share his views - but in a work of social history one would have hoped for a more thoughtful treatment that drew on the work of other writers and analysts more extensively.
In the end, I was left informed but also frustrated. A significant number of obvious gaps in the bibliography confirmed my sense that this analysis, though useful and thoughtful in places, skims the surface too much. Worthwhile, but could have been a lot better. This will become a useful part of the collection of books now appearing about this period, but mainly because it illustrates a contrasting approach to how one can analyse social history.
Towards the end, the book starts to become disfigured by what turns into one long rang against Blair, New Labour and all their works (with the occasional nod to some decent things they have done). Not that this is objectionable in itself - many millions will share his views - but in a work of social history one would have hoped for a more thoughtful treatment that drew on the work of other writers and analysts more extensively.
In the end, I was left informed but also frustrated. A significant number of obvious gaps in the bibliography confirmed my sense that this analysis, though useful and thoughtful in places, skims the surface too much. Worthwhile, but could have been a lot better. This will become a useful part of the collection of books now appearing about this period, but mainly because it illustrates a contrasting approach to how one can analyse social history.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I thought this book was very well written, erudite and witty, and quite riveting to read - a sign of good writing, since one already knows the plot!
However in terms of bias and omissions I am at odds with some of the other reviewers - I thought the author, while obviously trying to be balanced, betrayed a LEFT wing bias in many places. New Labour is castigated mainly for not being Old Labour, for instance, a perfectly respectable view for an academic socialist to hold (and a lot of them do), but hardly the Tory line. As another example, the extensive social unrest in British cities that blighted this period in our history is attributed to (white) 'racist thugs', a gross simplification by anyone's standards. I could go on. But who says a book has to cover every aspect, and every point of view? It would be dull if it did. This is a fine polemic.
However in terms of bias and omissions I am at odds with some of the other reviewers - I thought the author, while obviously trying to be balanced, betrayed a LEFT wing bias in many places. New Labour is castigated mainly for not being Old Labour, for instance, a perfectly respectable view for an academic socialist to hold (and a lot of them do), but hardly the Tory line. As another example, the extensive social unrest in British cities that blighted this period in our history is attributed to (white) 'racist thugs', a gross simplification by anyone's standards. I could go on. But who says a book has to cover every aspect, and every point of view? It would be dull if it did. This is a fine polemic.
7 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
It seems to me that the author wasn't around in the 1970s. If so he would have put a greater emphasis on how everything in Britain was ghastly; the place felt like it was going down the pan. It was all over for Britain, and we all felt it.
This book should have dealt much more harshly with the fools who were running this country. The guilty; Heath, Wilson, Callaghan; supposedly intelligent men, men of vision. But it took a woman, Mrs Thatcher, to put the show back on the road. And, boy, did the people of Britain whine about it? I was there and I heard them. And they are whining still.
This book is far too forgiving on the idiots - the politicians and trade unionists - who were willfully destroying this country. There isn't enough wit in the book, not enough barbs. Not enough comedy, even. The characters were laughable, and we should be invited to laugh.
And here's something else. Not a major part of the book, but it shows you where the author stands. The author appears to think there is a direct link between the lovelies who grace page three of the Sun newspaper, and the insane sexual violence of the Fred West household. Eh? This is what is known as 'political correctness gone mad'. He rails against those who shouted down Clare Short when she tried to bring in legislation which was specifically aimed at the Sun newspaper. Personally, I think she got off light.
It's an odd work, really. There are references to Mary Whitehouse and Mary Millington, but no mention of Jean-Charles Menezes (d. July 2005). If anything is going to instill either anger or a fearful apathy into a population, then the mad-cap antics of armed police would do the trick.
Still, it's nice to see that the city of Sheffield gets mentioned about seven times (Battle of Orgreave, Hillsborough Disaster, Kinnock's embarrassing 'rock star' moment, police arrest of Peter Sutcliffe, the setting for The Full Monty, birthplace of both Peter Stringfellow and David Blunkett.) It's all happening here!!
Anyway... There needs to be a history written about the late 1970s and how the collective soul of the nation was altered by events. But, sadly, this isn't the book.
This book should have dealt much more harshly with the fools who were running this country. The guilty; Heath, Wilson, Callaghan; supposedly intelligent men, men of vision. But it took a woman, Mrs Thatcher, to put the show back on the road. And, boy, did the people of Britain whine about it? I was there and I heard them. And they are whining still.
This book is far too forgiving on the idiots - the politicians and trade unionists - who were willfully destroying this country. There isn't enough wit in the book, not enough barbs. Not enough comedy, even. The characters were laughable, and we should be invited to laugh.
And here's something else. Not a major part of the book, but it shows you where the author stands. The author appears to think there is a direct link between the lovelies who grace page three of the Sun newspaper, and the insane sexual violence of the Fred West household. Eh? This is what is known as 'political correctness gone mad'. He rails against those who shouted down Clare Short when she tried to bring in legislation which was specifically aimed at the Sun newspaper. Personally, I think she got off light.
It's an odd work, really. There are references to Mary Whitehouse and Mary Millington, but no mention of Jean-Charles Menezes (d. July 2005). If anything is going to instill either anger or a fearful apathy into a population, then the mad-cap antics of armed police would do the trick.
Still, it's nice to see that the city of Sheffield gets mentioned about seven times (Battle of Orgreave, Hillsborough Disaster, Kinnock's embarrassing 'rock star' moment, police arrest of Peter Sutcliffe, the setting for The Full Monty, birthplace of both Peter Stringfellow and David Blunkett.) It's all happening here!!
Anyway... There needs to be a history written about the late 1970s and how the collective soul of the nation was altered by events. But, sadly, this isn't the book.
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