The Politics of State Expansion: War, State and Society in Twentieth-Century Britain

The expansion of the British state was neither automatic nor accidental. Rather, it was the outcome of recurring battles over the proper boundaries of the state and its role in economy and society. The Politics of State Expansion focuses on the interests arrayed on either side of this struggle; providing a new and critical perspective on the growth of the “Keynsian welfare state’ and on the more recent retreat from Keynes and from collective provision.