Rejoice! Rejoice! : Britain in the 1980s

When Margaret Thatcher became prime minister in 1979 she promised to bring harmony where once there had been discord. But Britain entered the 1980s bitterly divided over its future. At stake were the souls of the great population boom of the 1960s. Would they buy into the free-market, patriotic agenda of Thatcherism? Or the anti-racist, anti-sexist liberalism of the new left? From the miners' strike, the Falklands War and the spectre of AIDS, to Yes, Minister , championship snooker and Boy George, Rejoice! Rejoice! steps back in time to relive the decade when the Iron Lady sought to remake Britain. What it discovers is a thoroughly foreign country. The Eighties May Seem To Many Of Us Like Yesterday, But They Are Already Two Decades Ago. Not Only Have We Already Become Nostalgic For Them (witness The Recent Reunions Of Eighties Bands From Spandau Ballet To Ultravox), But In Many Ways The Decade Does Seem Like A Thoroughly Foreign Country. A Naval Task Force Sailing To Re-take An Insular Outpost In The South Atlantic (with The Qe2 Converted To A Troopship!).... Almost A Quarter Of Britain's Heavy Industry Wiped Out By Savagely Monetarist Policies, Laying Waste To Whole Heavy Industries Like Coal Mining And Shipbuilding. Intro Eighties: 'this Is The Dawning Of A New Era'; Part One Putting Out Fire With Gasoline 1979-83; 1 The First Thatcher Government: 'just Like Starting Over'; 2 Comrades: 'dog Eat Dog'; 3 Alternatives: 'a Thousand People Just Like Me'; 4 Resistance: 'we're Living In Violent Times'; 5 War: 'people Are Stupid'; Part Two When The Wind Blows 1983-87; 6 The Second Thatcher Government: 'the Edge Of Heaven'; 7 Identities: 'standing On Their Own Two Feet'; 8 Enemies: 'when Two Tribes Go To War'; 9 Moralities: 'i Don't Want To Change The World' 10 Boom: 'let's Make Lots Of Money'part Three Under The God 1987-90; 11 The Third Thatcher Government: 'the Only Way Is Up'; 12 Media: 'when Will I See My Picture In The Paper?'; 13 Establishment: 'i Will Be Your Preacher Teacher'; 14 Globalization: 'walls Come Tumbling Down'; 15 Fall: 'there She Goes'; Outro Aftermath: 'you're History'; References; Bibliography; Credits; Acknowledgements; Index; Copyright. Alwyn W. Turner. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [397]-407) And Index. The Eighties may seem to many of us like yesterday, but they are already two decades ago. Not only have we already become nostalgic for them (witness the recent reunions of eighties bands from Spandau Ballet to Ultravox), but in many ways the decade does seem like a thoroughly foreign country. A naval Task Force sailing to re-take an insular outpost in the South Atlantic (with the QE2 converted to a troopship!)...Almost a quarter of Britain's heavy industry wiped out by savagely monetarist policies, laying waste to whole heavy industries like coal mining and shipbuilding. Boy George sweetly crooning "Karma Chameleon". The extraordinary pitched battles of the miners' strike. The panic of the early stages of AIDS. Now, Alwyn Turner has written the first ful-length, in-depth history of this most fascinating of decades. If the Seventies, the subject of his previous book, were the last gasp of the old Britain, the Eighties were a truly transitional, politically revolutionary decade, when Thatcherism remade Britain's economy and its society, but when Britain's social fabric also changed in many infinitely more encouraging the response to famine in Ethiopia with the global Live Aid concert; gay rights. Witty, formidably well-informed, on political intrigue as well as every last soap opera and rock album, this is a piece of genuinely new history. Alwyn Turner is the author of Crisis? What Crisis? - Britain in the 1970s and Cult Rock Poster, both published by Aurum, as well as The Biba Experience. He lives in London.

When Margaret Thatcher became prime minister in 1979 she promised to bring harmony where once there had been discord. But Britain entered the 1980s bitterly divided over its future. At stake were the souls of the great population boom of the 1960s. Would they buy into the free-market, patriotic agenda of Thatcherism? Or the anti-racist, anti-sexist liberalism of the new left?

From the miners’ strike, the Falklands War and the spectre of AIDS, to Yes, Minister, championship snooker and Boy George, Rejoice! Rejoice! steps back in time to relive the decade when the Iron Lady sought to remake Britain. What it discovers is a thoroughly foreign country.

An acclaimed history of the biggest, brashest and most tumultuous decade in recent British history.