The Road To 1945: British Politics and the Second World War Revised Edition

Description

The war years witnessed a radical shift in political power, expressed in Labour's decisive electoral victory in 1945. In this classic study, now revised, Addison traces this sea-change back to the 1930s and strives to recapture the spirit of post-war reconstruction. Paul Addison has also written "Now the War is Over" and "Churchill on the Home Front".

Paul Addison teaches history at the University of Edinburgh and is a former visiting Fellow of All Soul's College, Oxford. He is the author of Now the War is Over, a social history of post-war Britain which accompanied an acclaimed BBC television series; and Churchill on the Home Front, described by David Cannadine in the Observer as 'the best one-volume study of Churchill yet available'.

'The best and most comprehensive account of British politics immediately before, during, and immediately after the Second World War * Guardian * What I find most striking is the beauty of his prose, the force of his argument, and the awesome and painstaking research that underpins it. Although I still do not agree with him, it is one hell of an achievement, and one that has not been matched since -- Harriet Jones * Times Education Supplement * This is a landmark in the writing of contemporary history and deserves wide acclaim * Times Literary Supplement * Many books have been written about the Home Front. Few have dealt with the development of policies at the top. Addison's book fills the gap magnificently. It tells with wit, scholarship and imagination how the British people entered the Promised Land - or seemed to -- A.J.P. Taylor * Observer * This is a brilliant book. It is probably the most intelligent monograph on a recent period of British politics -- John Vincet * New Society *