Never Again: Britain, 1945-51

by PeterHennessy (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1992

  $4.14

  This is the first volume of a history of Britain from 1945 to the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. This book covers the years from 1945 to 1951 - an age dominated by the shadow of war - and creates a complete picture of life in Britain, embracing both high politics and everyday experience. The author brings to life such characters as Clement Attlee, Ernie Bevin and Nye Bevan, and relates their respective government's achievements - the establishment of the National Health Service and the reconstruction of the education system among others. The author traces Britain's flirtation with Europe, the debacle with India and the dramas of the Korean War, and contrasts these with social developments in the UK.

• New

  Paperback
  2006

  $15.35

  From the high politics of Court and Cabinet room to the everyday discussions in kitchen or queue, Peter Hennessy's Never Again: Britain 1945-51 recreates the mood and feel of life in early post-war Britain. At the end of the Second World War Britain was in flux. It was an age of rationing and rebuilding; when hope for a better future contrasted with the horror of war. Fresh ideals emerged during the common experience of the conflict and the new, widespread belief that everyone should be treated equally led to the creation of the 'welfare state' and the NHS, despite tough economic circumstances. Internationally, Britain was finding a place in a world increasingly overshadowed by Cold War with the Soviet Union. 'A joy to read' Sunday Times 'Hennessy is never for a moment dull' Philip Ziegler, Daily Telegraph 'Jumping like a tree frog from blue book to nostalgic reminiscence to brilliant one-liner, Hennessy conjures up the Attlee years more vividly than any previous historical writer' Ben Pimlott 'Hennessy is the antithesis of the dry-as-dust academic historian. He laughs a great deal, and punctuates his writing with cheery and illuminating anecdotes' Ian Aitken, Guardian 'A sympathetic, highly readable, meticulously researched account of the Cabinet room politics and popular habits of life and recreation during the high noon of Labourism' Roy Jenkins, Observer Peter Hennessy is Attlee Professor of History at Queen Mary College, London, and the Director of the Mile End Institute of Contemporary British Government, Intelligence and Society. He is the author of Never Again: Britain 1945-51 (winner of the NCR and Duff Cooper Prizes), Having it So Good: Britain in the Fifties (winner of the Orwell Prize); the bestselling The Prime Minister and The Secret State.