SELECTED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 BY THE TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH, LONDON EVENING STANDARD, DAILY MAIL AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE
'Magisterial ... If anyone wants to know what has been happening to Britain since the 1950s, it is difficult to imagine a more informative, or better-humoured guide ... a Thucydidean coolness, balance and wisdom that is superb.' - AN Wilson, The Times
'Who Dares Wins captures the period with clairvoyant vividness. Compulsively readable, the book will be indispensable to anyone who wants to understand these pivotal years.' - John Gray, New Statesman
'Immaculately well-researched, breathtakingly broad and beautifully written ... Sandbrook leaves the reader impatient for the next volume.' - Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph
The acclaimed historian of modern Britain, Dominic Sandbrook, tells the story of the early 1980s: the most dramatic, colourful and controversialyears in our recent history.
Margaret Thatcher had come to power in 1979 with adaring plan to reverse Britain's decline into shabbiness and chaos. Butas factories closed their doors, dole queues lengthened and the innercities exploded in flames, would her radical medicine rescue the SickMan of Europe - or kill it off?
Vivid, surprising and gloriouslyentertaining, Dominic Sandbrook's new book recreates the decisiveturning point in Britain's recent story. For some people this was an ageof unparalleled opportunity, the heyday of computers and credit cards,snooker, Sloane Rangers and Spandau Ballet. Yet for others it was an eraof shocking bitterness, as industries collapsed, working-classcommunities buckled and the Labour Party tore itself apart. And whenArgentine forces seized the Falkland Islands, it seemed the finalhumiliation for a wounded, unhappy country, its fortunes now standing ona knife-edge.
Here are the early 1980s in all their gaudyglory. This is the story of Tony Benn, Ian Botham and Princess Diana;Joy Division, Chariots of Fire, the Austin Metro and Juliet Bravo; winebars, Cruise missiles, the ZX Spectrum and the battle for the Falklands.And towering above them all, the most divisive Prime Minister of moderntimes - the Iron Lady.
Reviews
Terrific fun ... Sandbrook isn't like other historians ... He heads off down strange, neglected byways, teasing out unexpected connections, with the results often proving far more illuminating - and enjoyable - than conventional narratives ... I defy you not to be swept up in a narrative that's as colourful as it is dramatic.
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