State of Emergency

Britain, 1970-1974

Dominic Sandbrook

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Paperback

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English

Penguin
29 July 2011

History; British & Irish history; Postwar 20th century history, from c 1945 to c 2000; Social & cultural history

A wonderful evocation of a Britain torn between glam and gloom

In the early 1970s, Britain seemed to be tottering on the brink of the abyss. The headlines were dominated by strikes and blackouts, unemployment and inflation. As the world looked on in horrified fascination, Britain seemed to be tearing itself apart. And yet, amid the gloom, glittered a creativity and cultural dynamism that would influence our lives long after the nightmarish Seventies had been forgotten.

In this brilliant new history, Dominic Sandbrook recreates the gaudy, schizophrenic atmosphere of the early Seventies- the world of Enoch Powell and Tony Benn, David Bowie and Brian Clough, Germaine Greer and Mary Whitehouse. An age when the unions were on the march and the socialist revolution seemed at hand, but also when feminism, permissiveness, pornography and environmentalism were transforming the lives of millions. It was an age of miners' strikes, tower blocks and IRA atrocities, but it also gave us celebrity footballers and high-street curry houses, organic foods and package holidays, gay rights and glam rock.

For those who remember the days when you could buy a new colour television but power cuts stopped you from watching it, this book could hardly be more vivid. It is the perfect guide to a luridly colourful Seventies landscape that shaped our present from the financial boardroom to the suburban bedroom.

By: Dominic Sandbrook
Imprint: Penguin
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 127mm, Spine: 32mm
Weight: 563g
ISBN: 9780141032153
ISBN 10: 0141032154
Pages: 768
Publication Date: 29 July 2011
Recommended Age: From 0 years
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Dominic Sandbrook was born in Shropshire in 1974, an indirect result of the Heath government's three-day week giving couples more leisure time. He is now a prolific reviewer and commentator, writing regularly for the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Sunday Times. He is the author of two hugely acclaimed books on Britain in the Fifties and Sixties, Never Had It So Good and White Heat.

Reviews for State of Emergency: Britain, 1970-1974

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 *