The Essential A-Z Guide

Modern British History

An invaluable and opinionated guide to modern Britain, designed to inform both the general reader and the student about our culture and society, politics and economics.

200 snappy and stylish essays on the topics that dominated British life since 1900

It is enormous fun... This is a "reference book with attitude"... [And] how can you not admire a book which, in a passing mention of Coco Chanel, describes her as "the Nazi-sympathising French couturier"?

Mark Garnett is the co-author of Whatever Happened to the Tories (1997), Keith Joseph: A Life (2001), and Splendid! Splendid! The Authorized Biography of Willie Whitelaw (2002). 
 
Richard Weight is a cultural and social historian, currently a Visiting Professor at the University of Boston. A regular broadcaster and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Society of the Arts, he is the author of Patriots: National Identity in Britain 1940-2000 (2002).

Modern British History is a comprehensive, entertaining survey of the events, people and themes that make us who we are, written by two of the country's leading scholars of the subject. In 200 concise essays, covering topics as diverse as pornography and the poll tax, the Blitz and New Labour, the authors explore the interwoven culture, society, politics and economics of the recent past. 
 
Bombarded by information as never before, we all need to appreciate the extent to which seemingly disparate events connect with other. This Essential A - Z guide offers a consistent line of argument with a refreshing disrespect for old orthodoxy. Read separately, its entries are a mine of useful information; taken together, they build a vivid, compelling and controversial picture of Britain at the start of the twenty-first century.

Mark Garnett

A bold and unexpected argument... a fascinating book

Thoroughly compelling... Garnett is a fine guide to the sheer grimness of life 30 years ago, and his evocative tour d'horizon of Britain in 1975 shows off his ability to handle both high politics and low culture

Engaging... He has an eye for the off-beat detail and newspaper reports that capture the flavour of the period

A convincing analysis...this survey asks some interesting questions about our social history and offers the first steps towards answering them

A useful book...clips along at a decent pace and is never less than readable

The Story of Politics, Society and Popular Culture in Britain since 1975

In this groundbreaking new book, Mark Garnett charts the changes in British politics, society and culture since 1975. In the mid-1970s Britons spent much of their time complaining - and seemingly for good reason. A Labour government with a wafer-thin majority was struggling in vain against rampant inflation; the headlines were full of strikes, serial killers and sporting disasters; while in the streets anti-fascist demonstrators clashed with the racists of the National Front. 
 
Britain in the early years of the twenty-first century seems a very different and much quieter place, but is it as 'apathetic' as the political commentators argue? And were the 1970s really as 'angry' as people believed?

From Anger To Apathy

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

sectionTitle

isEnabled

anchor

anchorLabel

prhuk/featured-book

prhuk/praise-section

maxBooks

showViewMore

prhuk/books-section

hideAuthorAlert

formName

iterableDivision

iterableBrand

buttonText

description

heading

legalText

successHeading

successText

image

alignment

variation

prhuk/email-section

prhuk/series-section

prhuk/biography-section

prhuk/articles-section

prhuk-authors

Frankenstein

Wings

Flesh

Mark Garnett

Praise for From Anger To Apathy

Eye-openingly good

A bold and unexpected argument... a fascinating book

Thoroughly compelling... Garnett is a fine guide to the sheer grimness of life 30 years ago, and his evocative tour d'horizon of Britain in 1975 shows off his ability to handle both high politics and low cult ...

Eye-openingly good

A bold and unexpected argument... a fascinating book

Thoroughly compelling... Garnett is a fine guide to the sheer grimness of life 30 years ago, and his evocative tour d'horizon of Britain in 1975 shows off his ability to handle both high politics and low cult ...

Eye-openingly good

A bold and unexpected argument... a fascinating book

Thoroughly compelling... Garnett is a fine guide to the sheer grimness of life 30 years ago, and his evocative tour d'horizon of Britain in 1975 shows off his ability to handle both high politics and low cult ...

Books by Mark Garnett

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter