Description
Alwyn Turner's book "A Classless Society" is a history of the 1990s in Britain. The book covers a variety of topics such as the Gulf War, the rise of the New Lad and Ladette culture, the fall of the Iron Lady, and the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. Turner is a journalist who has covered the 1990s extensively, and his writing is rich and encyclopedic. He has a clear thesis that the 1990s saw the establishment of a new post-Thatcher settlement, based on economic and social liberalism. The stories are just so good, and often so funny, that you forget about the argument. This book is an invaluable English document.
Superb NICK COHEN, author of What's Left? Tremendously entertaining DOMINIC SANDBROOK, Sunday Times Like his previous histories of the Seventies and Eighties, A Classless Society is an extraordinarily comprehensive work. Turner writes brilliantly, creating a compelling narrative of the decade, weaving contrasting elements together with a natural storyteller's aplomb...engaging and unique IRVINE WELSH, Daily Telegraph Ravenously inquisitive, darkly comical and coolly undeceived...Turner is a master of the telling detail CRAIG BROWN, Mail on Sunday When Margaret Thatcher was ousted from Downing Street in November 1990, after eleven years of bitter social and economic conflict, many hoped that the decade to come would be more 'caring'; others dared to believe that the more radical policies of her revolution might even be overturned. Across politics and culture there was an apparent yearning for something the Iron Lady had famously dismissed: society. Yet the forces that had warred over the country during the 1980s were to prevent any simple turning back of the clock. The 'New Britain' to emerge under John Major and Tony Blair would be a contradiction: economically unequal but culturally classless. While Westminster agonised over sleaze and the ERM, the country outside became the playground of the New Lad and his sister the Ladette, of Swampy and the YBAs, of Posh and Becks and Jarvis Cocker. A new era was dawning which promised to connect us via the 'information superhighway' and entertain us with 'docusoaps'. It was also a period that would see old moral certainties swept aside, and once venerable institutions descend into farce - followed, in the case of the Royal Family, by tragedy. Opening with a war in the Gulf and ending with the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, A Classless Society goes in search of the decade when modern Britain came of age. What it finds is a nation anxiously grappling with new technologies, tentatively embracing new lifestyles, and, above all, forging a new sense of what it means to be British. Deserves to become a classic EDWINA CURRIE Rich and encyclopaedic ROGER LEWIS, Daily Mail Excellent D.J. TAYLOR, Independent
Review:
Superb. I was a journalist throughout the 1990s, but did not notice a tenth of what Turner has seen or write about it half as well. -- Nick Cohen, author of What's Left? John Major may have struggled to create a country at ease with itself, but Alwyn Turner's seductive blend of political analysis, social reportage and cultural immersion puts him wonderfully at ease with his readers. -- David Kynaston, author of Austerity Britain It was refreshing to dip into A Classless Society, the third volume of Alwyn Turner's history of Britain since the 1970s... I enjoyed it a great deal. -- Toby Young Spectator Alwyn Turner comprehensively explodes the notion that knowing so much about the 20th century makes a coherent historical account impossible. A Classless Society is an illuminating, admirably inclusive and perhaps essential guide to understanding what just happened. An invaluable English document. -- Alan Moore, author of Watchmen and From Hell Tremendously entertaining... As a historian Turner is probably his own worst enemy - which I mean as a compliment. His book has plenty of acute insights, as well as a sensible thesis that the 1990s saw the establishment of a new post-Thatcher settlement, based on economic and social liberalism. But the stories are just so good, and often so funny, that you keep forgetting about the argument... How often, after all, do you read a book that has equally interesting things to say about Britain's exit from the ERM, the advent of Loaded magazine and the rise of Alan Partridge? -- Dominic Sandbrook Sunday Times Rich and encyclopaedic... A particular pleasure of this wonderful, hilarious book is Turner's contempt for politicians, who are 'perverts, liars and conmen', on the whole. -- Roger Lewis Daily Mail - 'Book of the Week' He is amusing, perceptive and reminds the reader of the TV programmes and musical artists they have loved and then for
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