Peter Hennessy Libros

Harold Macmillan famously said in 1960 that the wind of change was blowing over Africa and the remaining British Empire. But it was blowing over Britain too - its society; its relationship with Europe; its nuclear and defence policy. And where it was not blowing hard enough - the United Kingdom's economy - great efforts were made to sweep away the cobwebs of old industrial practices and poor labour relations. Life was lived in the knowledge that it could end in a single afternoon of thermonuclear exchange if the uneasy, armed peace of the Cold War tipped into a Third World War. In Winds of Change we see Macmillan gradually working out his 'grand design' - how to be part of both a tight transatlantic alliance and Europe, dealing with his fellow geostrategists Kennedy and de Gaulle. The centre of the book is 1963 - the year of the Profumo Crisis, the Great Train Robbery, the satire boom, de Gaulle's veto of Britain's first application to join the EEC, the fall of Macmillan and the unexpected succession to the premiership of Alec Douglas-Home. Then, in 1964, the battle of what Hennessy calls the tweedy aristocrat and the tweedy meritocrat - Harold Wilson, who would end 13 years of Conservative rule and usher in a new era. As in his acclaimed histories of British life in the two previous decades, Never Again and Having it so Good, Peter Hennessy explains the political, economic, cultural and social aspects of a nation with inimitable wit and empathy. No historian knows the by-ways as well the highways of the archives so well, and no one conveys the flavour of the period so engagingly. The early sixties live again in these pages. -- Provided by publisher

“The historian,” wrote E. L. Doctorow, “will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like.” This book sees Peter Hennessy and Robert Shepard combine both approaches with the art of the interviewer, a craft at once sensitive and probing. Reflections collects transcripts of the best interviews from the BBC Radio 4 series Reflections with Peter Hennessy, a show on which the British political elite have spoken candidly about their careers and the moments that came to define their political lives. Supplementing the interviews are short biographies and profiles of the interviewees, allowing readers a fuller picture of each speaker’s background and professional trajectory. This revealing book includes conversations with political heavyweights such as former prime minister John Major; former foreign secretaries Margaret Beckett, David Owen, and Jack Straw; Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock; Liberal Party leader David Steel; and chancellor of exchequer Nigel Lawson. In addition, Reflections presents interviews with leading women, including Shirley Williams and Clare Short, who spent years at the forefront of their parties in Westminster. The latest volume in the popular Haus Curiosities series, Reflections offers valuable insights from some of today’s most influential political figures.

What were the secret plans for Britain if World War Three had erupted and 'breakdown' had occurred? When would the Queen have been informed and where would she have gone? How does the contingency planning for a national emergency work today? This book gives the detailed answers to these questions.

Focusing on the inner workings of the British government, Peter Hennessy examines the role of the Prime Minister and Cabinet dynamics through unique access to key politicians and newly declassified documents. He explores Prime Ministerial perspectives on critical issues such as nuclear policy, war planning, and international crises, spanning from Suez to the Falklands. The book culminates in provocative evaluations of each Prime Minister's effectiveness and proposes a redefined understanding of the premiership for the 21st century.

Harold Macmillan emerges as a central figure in this exploration of post-war Britain, set against the backdrop of Cold War tensions. The book delves into the multifaceted impacts on the nation, examining political, economic, cultural, and social dimensions. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the era, highlighting how these elements intertwine and influence the cultural climate of the time.

At the end of the Second World War Britain was in flux. It was an age of rationing and rebuilding; when hope for a better future contrasted with the horror of war. This title recreates the mood and feel of life in early post- war Britain.

Explores the formal powers of the Prime Minister and how each incumbent has made the job his or her own. Drawing on unparalleled access to many of the leading figures, as well as the key civil servants and journalists of each period, the author has built up a picture of the hidden nexus of influence and patronage surrounding the office. schovat popis

This text performs a "health check" on the state of the British constitution in its five key areas - monarchy, premiership, Cabinet, Whitehall and Parliament - and assesses how each is responding to the stresses and strains of changing circumstances.

One of our most celebrated historians shows how we can use the lessons of the past to build a new post-covid society in Britain The 'duty of care' which the state owes to its citizens is a phrase much used, but what has it actually meant in Britain historically? And what should it mean in the future, once the immediate Covid crisis has passed? In A Duty of Care, Peter Hennessy divides post-war British history into BC (before covid) and AC (after covid). He looks back to Sir William Beveridge's classic identification of the 'five giants' against which society had to battle - want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness - and laid the foundations for the modern welfare state in his wartime report. He examines the steady assault on the giants by successive post-war governments and asks what the comparable giants are now. He lays out the 'road to 2045' with 'a new Beveridge' to build a consensus for post-covid Britain with the ambition and on the scale that was achieved by the first.

The 1950s was the decade in which Roger Bannister ran the four-minute mile, Bill Haley released Rock Around the Clock, rationing ended and Britain embarked on the traumatic, disastrous Suez War. This book captures Britain in a decade, emerging from the shadow of war into growing affluence.