After the calamity of the Great War, there was a desire in Britain for escapist fun - the lights of the Jazz Age, radio comedies and the pictures were a welcome respite from the grim reality of the Great Depression. Yet the storm clouds were gathering, and Britain between the wars was a turbulent, restless place - and where the foundations of the modern nation were laid.
Combining cultural, social and political history, A Shellshocked Nation is the next instalment in Alwyn Turner's highly original history of the twentieth century, sketching a portrait of the interwar nation through its entertainments and scandals, its people and political crises. From the General Strike to the BBC, Irish Home Rule and the rise of fascism, this is the definitive story of Britain's most anxious era.
Read MoreThis is just glorious: almost every page stops you dead with insight into a world at once utterly strange, yet still living somewhere within us all - The Shortest History of EnglandPraise for Little Englanders: A page-turner of a popular history of the period, crammed with humour and striking quotes - New StaesmanThere have been plenty of books on the Edwardians before, but never one as richly enjoyable as this - Sunday TimesFor sheer entertainment, this rollicking account of Britain before the Great War is hard to beat - The Times