Overview

How does modern British history look when seen through the eyes of those not yet grown up? In newly affluent 1950s Britain, ideas about adulthood and childhood began to change radically. Adults married, bought houses, and had children far sooner, and were conceived as self-sufficient, altruistic good citizens. Children and teenagers, conversely, were heavily regulated, imagined as fragile, vulnerable, or deviant, their voices excluded from civic and political conversation. But Britain's young people had their own ideas. Laura Tisdall tells the history of modern Britain through the experiences of its adolescents, revealing their thoughts, fantasies, and anxieties. From children's activist movements for nuclear disarmament to young women's reservations about the permissive society, queer youth's inability to imagine a happy future, or more everyday objections to the pressure to conform, young people throughout Britain creatively challenged the world adults made for them. Tisdall shows us Cold War Britain through the eyes of its youth, from the expansion of the welfare state to the sexual revolution and the rise of neoliberalism—and so shines a wholly new light on a supposedly familiar era.

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Reviews

“A deep dive into how it felt to be young in Cold War Britain. With precision and flair, Tisdall invites us to see key themes such as permissiveness and the welfare state in an entirely new light. A masterclass in how to write children's histories.”—Rebecca Clifford, author of Survivors “The lively voices of children and teenagers on love, sex, school, politics, class and race are analysed with nuance and humanity in this beautifully crafted and important new book.”—Robert Gildea, author of Backbone of the Nation “A new history of postwar Britain driven by a quietly radical belief in the value of listening to what young people said about themselves. From teenagers penning angry letters in their bedrooms, to student unions leading school strikes, Tisdall offers a richly textured account.”—Andrew Seaton, author of Our NHS “This is a fascinating and deeply affecting book. Through scrupulous and diligent research, Tisdall has done much to capture and explain the history of young people and their experiences in Cold War Britain. A path-breaking contribution.”—Charlotte Lydia Riley, author of Imperial Island “A vivid, original, and moving story of life during the Cold War. The child’s-eye perspective is presented with astonishing sensitivity and perspicacity.”—Anna Neima, author of The Utopians“Extraordinary, privileged access to the inner worlds of a generation—like being ushered onto a balcony overlooking a thousand psyches.”—Francis Spufford, author of Golden Hill

Author Information

Laura Tisdall is senior lecturer in modern British history at Newcastle University. She has written for the Guardian, History & Policy, and the Conversation, and is the author of A Progressive Education?

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