Having it So Good: Britain in the Fifties
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Review
Hennessy combines the balance and authority of a historian with the brilliantly selective eye of the investigative journalist ... if the Gods gossip this is how it would sound
Books of the Year (Philip Ziegler Spectator )
Books of the Year (Philip Ziegler Spectator )
Product Description
Having It So Good evokes Britain emerging from the shadow of war and the privations of austerity and rationing into growing affluence. Peter Hennessy takes his readers into the front-rooms where the Coronation was watched on television, to the classrooms and now coffee bars of 1950s Britain – and also into the secret Cabinet rooms in which decisions about the British nuclear bomb were taken and plans made for the catastrophe of nuclear war. He brings to life the ageing Churchill, in his last faltering spell as Prime Minister, the highly-strung Anthony Eden taking his country to war in the teeth of American opposition and world opinion, and the rise of ‘Supermac’ Harold Macmillan, gliding over problems with his Edwardian insouciance. Above all, Having It So Good captures the smell and the flavour of an extraordinary decade in which affluence and anxiety combined to produce their own winds of change.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb work of political and social history,
By kingofwessex (colchester) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Having it So Good: Britain in the Fifties (Paperback)
This is, quite simply, an excellent book. It is extremely well-written, handles its copious source material with panache and is a riveting read. Both 'top-down' and 'bottom-up' perspectives are provided, with lengthy and authoritative chapters dealing with politics and statecraft, consumerism and culture, and wider social issues as well. Britain's wider place in the world - its relations with Europe, the Commonwealth and the USA as well as the developing Cold War backdrop - is examined in detail and the author is invariably fair-minded in his appraisals of the conduct of political leaders, military commanders, civil servants and diplomats. The author usefully includes a liberal sprinkling of his own recollections, which help provide a vivid insight into 1950s Britain. A rewarding read for any fans of modern British history. It makes one look forward to the third volume, which will focus on the 1960s.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Heavy going,
By
This review is from: Having it So Good: Britain in the Fifties (Paperback)
I bought this in a charity shop, mistakenly thinking it was one of the David Kynaston series (Austerity Britain; Family Britain.) What a contrast! Unlike Kynaston's tightly written page-turners, this is heavy-duty political history for the deeply interested - by no means a good read for the casual historian.It is not helped by the fact it is printed in a small typeface, larded with quotations in an even smaller size and with footnotes that approach invisibility in dim light.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Comprehensive but lacking balance,
By OK Cole "OKCole" (Perth, Scotland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Having it So Good: Britain in the Fifties (Paperback)
Any review of this book must surely begin by noting the comprehensive research on which it is based and the acuteness and objectivity of the author. The author focuses heavily on the government of the day, as he did in the earlier volume covering Atlee's time in office. His detailed study of Cabinet papers and other published sources is complemented by information gathered in interviews with leading civil servants and other key figures of the period. And while his empathy for certain public figures seems evident, Prof. Hennessy writes even-handedly, with detailed references to validate key facts and descriptions of events. He avoids the temptation to analyse with the benefit of hindsight and provides enough background to keep the reader aware of the sense of the mood and attitudes of the time. Dare I suggest that Prof. Hennessy has written what might equally be described as an academic history of the 1950s, accessible to laymen or a popular history that will satisfy academics.However in spite of its length and thoroughness, I was disappointed by the overall balance of the book. There was undue emphasis on the events surrounding the development of nuclear weapons, approximately 100 pages out of the total of just over 600 pages. The impact of Butler's 1944 Education Act was discussed at some length but there was no reference to the development of education beyond England. There were repeated comments on the disproportionate spending on "defence" but no meaningful description of what this entailed, other than on nuclear weaponry, nor any discussion of structural changes in UK industry at large. There was little more than a passing mention of the changes in the trades union movement or Labour party. I also agree with earlier comments on legibility. Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable and very informative book. I would have valued it even more had there been a fuller description of developments in society, beyond what was happening in government.
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