A History of the Peoples of the British Isles: From 1870 to the Present

The three volumes of A History of the Peoples of the British Isles weave together the histories of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales and their peoples. The authors trace the course of social, economic, cultural and political history from prehistoric times to the present, analyzing the relationships, differences and similarities of the four areas. Presenting a wealth of material on themes such as women’s history, the family, religion, intellectual history, society, politics, and the arts, these volumes are an important resource for all students of the political and cultural heritage of the British Isles. Volume III deals with the ‘long twentieth century’. Its main themes are: the contraction of British industrial power and the shift to a service-based economy the decline of Victorianism and the rise of Modernism the climax of class society between the wars and the blurring of class lines after the 1960s the impact of two world wars the decline of British power and the empire the partition of Ireland the devolution of power to Wales and Scotland.