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Review
Superb ... vivid ... magnificent ... Anyone who was there should read it: and so should anyone who was not (Simon Heffer Literary Review )
Hugely entertaining, always compelling, often hilarious (Simon Sebag Montefiore Sunday Telegraph )
Thrillingly panoramic ... he vividly re-creates the texture of everyday life in a thousand telling details (Francis Wheen Observer )
Masterly ... nothing escapes his gaze (Independent on Sunday )
Splendidly readable ... his almost pitch-perfect ability to recreate the mood and atmospherics of the time is remarkable (Economist )
There is so much to enjoy ... Neatly interweaving his interpretation of the Heath years with insightful reflections on everything from racism in television to the rise of self-sufficiency, football hooliganism and sex comedies, Sandbrook has produced a memorable portrait of Britain in an era of angst and upheaval (Sunday Times )
Sandbrook is an inveterate demolisher of myths (Independent on Sunday )
This epically enthralling account of the Seventies will be read with embarrassed recognition by those who lived through it and disbelieving astonishment by those who missed it (Independent )
Hugely entertaining, always compelling, often hilarious (Simon Sebag Montefiore Sunday Telegraph )
Thrillingly panoramic ... he vividly re-creates the texture of everyday life in a thousand telling details (Francis Wheen Observer )
Masterly ... nothing escapes his gaze (Independent on Sunday )
Splendidly readable ... his almost pitch-perfect ability to recreate the mood and atmospherics of the time is remarkable (Economist )
There is so much to enjoy ... Neatly interweaving his interpretation of the Heath years with insightful reflections on everything from racism in television to the rise of self-sufficiency, football hooliganism and sex comedies, Sandbrook has produced a memorable portrait of Britain in an era of angst and upheaval (Sunday Times )
Sandbrook is an inveterate demolisher of myths (Independent on Sunday )
This epically enthralling account of the Seventies will be read with embarrassed recognition by those who lived through it and disbelieving astonishment by those who missed it (Independent )
Review
Superb ... vivid ... magnificent ... Anyone who was there should read it: and so should anyone who was not -- Simon Heffer Literary Review Hugely entertaining, always compelling, often hilarious -- Simon Sebag Montefiore Sunday Telegraph Thrillingly panoramic ... he vividly re-creates the texture of everyday life in a thousand telling details -- Francis Wheen Observer Masterly ... nothing escapes his gaze Independent on Sunday Splendidly readable ... his almost pitch-perfect ability to recreate the mood and atmospherics of the time is remarkable Economist There is so much to enjoy ... Neatly interweaving his interpretation of the Heath years with insightful reflections on everything from racism in television to the rise of self-sufficiency, football hooliganism and sex comedies, Sandbrook has produced a memorable portrait of Britain in an era of angst and upheaval Sunday Times Sandbrook is an inveterate demolisher of myths Independent on Sunday This epically enthralling account of the Seventies will be read with embarrassed recognition by those who lived through it and disbelieving astonishment by those who missed it Independent
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I have not read Mr Sandbrook's other two books, covering the 50s and 60s, but will definitely be doing so now. This book covers four years 1970-74 and, whilst 700 pages seems a lot for four years, he needs every one of them. He focuses primarily on the political and economic scene, with the travails of the Heath government, but brings in sport, entertainment, sex, fashion and food. I found it both informative and illuminating but most of all, I found it hugely enjoyable, He is a very good writer and knows when to provide serious historical analysis and when a waspish comment from Kenneth Williams. Mr Sandbrook also doesn't let himself be too constrained by chronological order or his period - so he does drift about into the late 60s and as far as the early 80s. This just adds to the whole thing.
I really didn't know much about the three day week, about the miners' strikes, our entry into Europe or, well, much about the time at all (I was born in 1972). I do now.
This is great. If you have the slightest interest in the period, read it.
I really didn't know much about the three day week, about the miners' strikes, our entry into Europe or, well, much about the time at all (I was born in 1972). I do now.
This is great. If you have the slightest interest in the period, read it.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Dominic Sandbrook's epic and immersive history of the early 1970's will bust many a lazy myth about the decade.
This work shows us that this was not just some absurdist naff time of silly fashion and rubbish art, a kind of hang-over from the 60's. The early 70's was time when many of the titanic shifts we usually ascribe to the 60's actually kicked in (and kicked off). So, "permissiveness", sexual freedom, advances in liberal attitudes to sexuality and gender politics, all took the ball passed in the 60's and ran with it. This was the time of sit ins to stop motorways and new urban development, of a burgeoning `green' movement, of Germaine Greer and "the Female Eunuch," of the pill bringing sexual liberation, of the recognition of domestic violence as an issue and the first refuges, of David Bowie and Ziggy Stardust and similar acts bringing as strong a counter culture as anything the 60's could produce.
This was also the decade when many of the issues we feel are new to our own time, or more keenly felt by us than before, were in fact in centre stage then. So we have an austerity programme that heralded in the famous "3 day week,", vicious political brawls about Europe and our place therein, the scourge of terrorism, and even an indeterminate general election result and an approach to the liberals to form a coalition; all this formed political headlines in the early part of the 1970's. Also, the `managerial' themes in Edward Heath's government were a precursor to those shown by New labour and our current Government, and `One Nation' Toryism does seem like a reflection of "the centre ground." And we have celebrity footballers and accusations of the soul being ripped from the game, and shocking violence in the streets with `hooligans' replacing our `hoodies.'
Far from being just a silly naff "in between" time, then, this was a time where big themes in national history really got into their swing. Sandbrook excels in bringing these big themes to life through illustrations through popular culture and newspaper and eyewitness accounts. He is very fond of using 1970's television to show how these big themes were being played out in the media and public consciousness, being especially fond of "Doctor Who" and 1970's sitcoms. His use of the popular sitcom of the time "Love Thy Neighbour" to illustrate attitudes to race and immigration of the day is both shocking and salutary, for example, as with "On the Buses" and its casual but powerful hostility to women.
His writing on the travails of the Heath Government reads like a powerful political thriller, with its phenomenal run of bad luck and cruel twists of fate, and in characters like Edward Heath, and nemesis Enoch Powell, you have characters straight from Shakespearean political drama and tragedy. Heath himself, well intentioned, arrogant, fatally blind in areas like empathy and even political survival, and a belief in consensus politics and a steady managerial approach even when the throat of his government is being torn out by union militancy and terrorism, is a study in hubris and fatal political and personal flaw that bring downfall.
The chapters on Ireland and sectarian violence are utterly horrifying and heartbreaking. 9/11 may have been new in terms of scale, but in terms of a cumulative body count and massacre of innocence, and images of searing freeze frame horror, the 70's terrorism should have satisfied humanity's most crazed demons forever.
For both those who lived through this time and those born after, this work will bring perspective and understanding. It is epic and exciting history.
This work shows us that this was not just some absurdist naff time of silly fashion and rubbish art, a kind of hang-over from the 60's. The early 70's was time when many of the titanic shifts we usually ascribe to the 60's actually kicked in (and kicked off). So, "permissiveness", sexual freedom, advances in liberal attitudes to sexuality and gender politics, all took the ball passed in the 60's and ran with it. This was the time of sit ins to stop motorways and new urban development, of a burgeoning `green' movement, of Germaine Greer and "the Female Eunuch," of the pill bringing sexual liberation, of the recognition of domestic violence as an issue and the first refuges, of David Bowie and Ziggy Stardust and similar acts bringing as strong a counter culture as anything the 60's could produce.
This was also the decade when many of the issues we feel are new to our own time, or more keenly felt by us than before, were in fact in centre stage then. So we have an austerity programme that heralded in the famous "3 day week,", vicious political brawls about Europe and our place therein, the scourge of terrorism, and even an indeterminate general election result and an approach to the liberals to form a coalition; all this formed political headlines in the early part of the 1970's. Also, the `managerial' themes in Edward Heath's government were a precursor to those shown by New labour and our current Government, and `One Nation' Toryism does seem like a reflection of "the centre ground." And we have celebrity footballers and accusations of the soul being ripped from the game, and shocking violence in the streets with `hooligans' replacing our `hoodies.'
Far from being just a silly naff "in between" time, then, this was a time where big themes in national history really got into their swing. Sandbrook excels in bringing these big themes to life through illustrations through popular culture and newspaper and eyewitness accounts. He is very fond of using 1970's television to show how these big themes were being played out in the media and public consciousness, being especially fond of "Doctor Who" and 1970's sitcoms. His use of the popular sitcom of the time "Love Thy Neighbour" to illustrate attitudes to race and immigration of the day is both shocking and salutary, for example, as with "On the Buses" and its casual but powerful hostility to women.
His writing on the travails of the Heath Government reads like a powerful political thriller, with its phenomenal run of bad luck and cruel twists of fate, and in characters like Edward Heath, and nemesis Enoch Powell, you have characters straight from Shakespearean political drama and tragedy. Heath himself, well intentioned, arrogant, fatally blind in areas like empathy and even political survival, and a belief in consensus politics and a steady managerial approach even when the throat of his government is being torn out by union militancy and terrorism, is a study in hubris and fatal political and personal flaw that bring downfall.
The chapters on Ireland and sectarian violence are utterly horrifying and heartbreaking. 9/11 may have been new in terms of scale, but in terms of a cumulative body count and massacre of innocence, and images of searing freeze frame horror, the 70's terrorism should have satisfied humanity's most crazed demons forever.
For both those who lived through this time and those born after, this work will bring perspective and understanding. It is epic and exciting history.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This huge, sprawling work takes a look at Britain between 1970-74 - mostly from a political, economic and social viewpoint - but the author also throws in a thorough analysis of major cultural issues also.
It's essentially an examination of Ted Heath's Tory government although the author Dominic Sandbrook does look at issues from earlier and later times to provide a counterpoint to events of his chosen period.
If you lived through these years - as I did as a young boy of 10-14 - or simply wish to take a look back at an earlier era, then there is much to reflect on in here. Events I was simply too young to appreciate at the time are fully explained and I was able to understand these when set in their full and correct context.
It's not dumbed-down, but nonetheless it's a fairly easy and rewarding read and the author manages to sustain his writing tone and focus throughout its entire length - not an easy thing to do on a text this long.
Would I recommend it? Most emphatically yes if you're a careful reader who's prepared to spend a lot of time on a painstaking review of this period; a period that helped shape much of the ethos and attitudes of modern Britain. Indeed, many pivotal events in the development of our nation are delineated in here.
I'm now going to order Mr Sandbrook's two earlier volumes on the 50s and 60s which I hope are equally as engrossing.
It's essentially an examination of Ted Heath's Tory government although the author Dominic Sandbrook does look at issues from earlier and later times to provide a counterpoint to events of his chosen period.
If you lived through these years - as I did as a young boy of 10-14 - or simply wish to take a look back at an earlier era, then there is much to reflect on in here. Events I was simply too young to appreciate at the time are fully explained and I was able to understand these when set in their full and correct context.
It's not dumbed-down, but nonetheless it's a fairly easy and rewarding read and the author manages to sustain his writing tone and focus throughout its entire length - not an easy thing to do on a text this long.
Would I recommend it? Most emphatically yes if you're a careful reader who's prepared to spend a lot of time on a painstaking review of this period; a period that helped shape much of the ethos and attitudes of modern Britain. Indeed, many pivotal events in the development of our nation are delineated in here.
I'm now going to order Mr Sandbrook's two earlier volumes on the 50s and 60s which I hope are equally as engrossing.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An Excellent Book
State of Emergency by Dominic Sandbrook is an excellent book about the early years of the 1970s. It is well-written, informative, detailed and opinionated and like the previous... Read more
Published 1 month ago by HBH
Cracking social history- the 70s live again!
I lived through the events portrayed in this book, and the detailed and passionate account brings the era of three-day weeks, strikes, social unrest, powerplays and recession to... Read more
Published 2 months ago by M. W. Hatfield
An illuminating journey back to the 70's
What a journey and it just brought back memories of my life growing up during the 70's. The account and details are brilliant and I can see this sitting on anybodys shelf with... Read more
Published 2 months ago by R. Patel
Excellent
Well it took me long enough. Months of on and off reading of this massive tome, I finally reached the end. That is no reflection on the writer, however. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Steve
Was it so long ago?
I can't get enough of this historian. Even though I know the ending, it still reads like a suspense story.
This volume covers the time I was at university. Read more
This volume covers the time I was at university. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. D. P. Jay
very detailed account .....
I think this book will only really interest folks interested in politics, social history and those who lived them, the time frame is the early 70s, i was only a child then but... Read more
Published 4 months ago by L. mckay
The five-year-long morning after the night before.
Doom and gloom is everywhere as we embark on Dominic Sandbrook's latest history lesson. In the choice of title, in the photo used for the front sleeve, in much of the text within,... Read more
Published 5 months ago by TheFridgeOfConstantEmptiness
A Good History
Given that Sandbrook was only born towards the end of 1974 I was a concerned that the book would be a bit like "Life On Mars" entertaining but not quite right! Read more
Published 7 months ago by Goldminer
Good Read
I was born in 1974 which covers part of this book. Needless to say I don't remember a lot of this era; however I found it very interesting to read about all the turbulence that was... Read more
Published 8 months ago by J. Pike
Steven - North West Essex.
Have had the book for a while now and still haven't finished it! It is full of interesting facts though. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Steven - Saffron Walden, Essex
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