This edition gathers both volumes of Modernity Britain for the first time. Following Austerity Britain and Family Britain, the third volume of the definitive social history of post-war Britain by David Kynaston offers a unique look at the period 1957-1962.

Kynaston documents a tense era in which the pace of social change accelerated and the characteristics of modern Britain began to take shape. These were the "lean years of prosperity," when the Carry On film series, movies like Room at the Top, and early soap operas such as Coronation Street and Z Cars brought the working class to the forefront of the national landscape.

The cultural power of youth emerged, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) challenged the progressive middle ground, rioting in Notting Hill made race and immigration inevitable realities, and the word "austerity" became the key term of the era. Traditional moral codes were seen as under serious threat, and the traditional cultural heritage of the working class transformed.

The most significant change, however, concerned the rebirth of urban areas: city centers entered the car age, slum clearances intensified, and the skyline filled with monumental high-architecture buildings. Some of these transformations were necessary, but many destroyed communities and left a harsh legacy.

This profoundly important history of Britain's transformation at the brink of a new world is vividly narrated through diaries, letters, newspapers, and rich material from other sources, published in a striking volume.

Pages: 880, Year of Publication: 0801, Dimensions: 12.8x12.8cm