The National Government, 1931-40 (british Studies Series)

Annotation The National Government that ran Britain during the 1930s has always received a very bad press. Its ultimate disgrace over the Munich crisis and the catastrophic opening phase of the Second World War sealed the fate of an experiment which had always been criticized by both Left and right and which has since made any further peacetime attempts at coalition government utterly disreputable. While not claiming that it was a success, Dr. Smart argues, however, that the National Government has been woefully misunderstood by historians who have allowed themselves to be too influenced by its much despised collapse. The Government's longevity, popularity at the polls and, in many ways, successful planning for World War II should not be ignored "While not wishing to claim that the National government was a great success, Dr. Smart none the less argues that it has been woefully misunderstood by historians, who have allowed themselves to be too influenced by its critics and the drama of its collapse. The government's longevity, popularity at the polls and in many ways successful planning for the Second World War (the hated Neville Chamberlain was directly responsible for the technological investment that won the Battle of Britain) should not be ignored."--BOOK JACKET. "Additionally, while castigated as undemocratic by its critics, the National government did manage to preserve democratic principles in Britain when they were being undermined and destroyed in much of Europe. Negatively, too, the coalition offered Churchill's wartime government of 1940 a model of co-operation between parties, which made it in many ways suspiciously similar to its lauded successor."--BOOK JACKET. "This is the first book for students on British politics of the period. It brings together a mass of specialized literature to make clear and interesting a critical decade which ended in the most severe test any British government has ever had to face."--BOOK JACKET. The British Economy In The Twentieth Century Combines Narrative With A Conceptual And Analytic Approach To Review British Economic Performance During The Twentieth Century In A Controlled Comparative Framework. It Looks At Key Themes, Including Economic Growth And Welfare, The Working Of The Labour Market, And The Performance Of Entrepreneurs And Managers. Alan Booth Argues That A Careful, Balanced Assessment (which Must Embrace The Whole Century Rather Than Simply The Postwar Years) Does Not Support The Loud And Persistent Case For Systematic Failure In British Management, Labour, Institutions, Culture And Economic Policy. Relative Decline Was Much More Modest, Patchy And Inevitable Than Commonly Believed.--jacket. 1. Introduction -- 2. Economic Growth And Welfare -- 3. Britain's Place In The World Economy -- 4. Industry, Entrepreneurs And Managers -- 5. The Labour Market, Unions And Skill -- 6. Government And Economic Policy -- 7. The Cultural Critique. Alan Booth. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 220-239) And Index. "This book aims to provide a lucid and approachable reassessment of the various political, economic and social pressures on the development of English justice in the fourteenth century. It suggests the best ways by which students can understand the different historical debates and schools of thought. Crucially, it stresses that the law did not simply react to external shocks, but was capable of developing from within, responding to the needs of a fast-changing and increasingly litigious society. Further, it questions the notion that royal justice underwent a crisis in the fourteenth century (a key theme for students of late medieval England), and offers new insights into the power structure and political culture of the reigns of Edward II, Edward III and Richard II."--Jacket "The period 1460-1660 was one of the most dramatic and crucially formative in the emergence of the modern English state, language and self-consciousness. It encompassed the reigns of the last Plantagenets, the Tudors and the early Stuarts, as well as the victory of Parliament over the King in the Great Civil War and the amazing experiment of the Puritan Republic." "The Making of the Modern English State traces the changes in politics and religion over the 200 years that helped to form a new English identity. It is both an up-to-date narrative of the growth of the English state and an invaluable guide to recent historiography."--Jacket The regime which governed Britain from 1931-1940, the National government, is often regarded as monolithic, "Tory dominated," and therefore boring. Actually it was none of these things. There were good reasons why, when it fell, nobody rushed to defend the old order, and while this book does not seek to do so, it does make the claim that the politics of the period are worthy of further exploration. The book seeks to explain the actions of politicians at the time by entering into the world they inhabited, giving fair and balanced treatment to a period of history that has largely been written off. "Over the last two decades there has been a steady growth of interest in the study of British history from a genuinely British, as opposed to metropolitan English, perspective. Traditionally British history has been taught as modern English history. This curious dichotomy crept into British historiography during the twentieth century as the result of domestic political tensions and imperial decline. Alexander Murdoch's new book seeks to explain the importance or Irish, Scottish and Welsh history to British history and relate English history to broader British patterns."--Jacket Front Matter....Pages i-vii Introduction....Pages 1-8 The 1931 Settlement....Pages 9-36 Coalition-Making....Pages 37-62 The India Bill....Pages 63-89 The Middle Period: November 1933 – December 1935....Pages 90-121 The Primacy of Foreign Policy....Pages 122-147 Neville Chamberlain’s National Government....Pages 148-183 High Tide and After....Pages 184-223 Back Matter....Pages 224-279 The national government that ran Britain during the 1930s has always received a very bad press. The author of this text argues that the national government has been woefully misunderstood by historians who have allowed themselves to be too influenced by its collapse. The 2nd edition of "A History of the British Labour Party" takes the story to 2000. The book looks at the reasons why the party was originally formed, its aims and achievements, its failures to achieve office, and its recovery since the problems of the 1980s.