' . . . there is much to recommend this volume . . . It is a book that should find its place on the shelf of any university library.' (Contemporary British History)
' . . . skilfully edited . . . ' (Planet)
This timely collection of exciting research explores the relationship between the Conservative Party and British society since 1880 by focusing on the key themes of ideology, national identity, gender and policy.
A new and more comprehensive approach to the history of the Conservative Party. This book breaks new ground, and poses new questions. It focuses on the relationship between the history of the party, and social change: and it reveals the complex relationship between Conservatives and British society. The authors break out of the `class explains all', or even `class development explains all' approach to an appreciation of the varied way in which individuals and groups think of and define themselves; and how the party has, successfully or otherwise, responded to these factors. The way in which the party in government has weighed up the competing demands of the electorate's self-interest on the one hand, and their perception of the electorate's sense of social justice on the other is very interesting indeed. Conservatism is getting more attention these days, but the book has the edge over most recent studies, in its British Isles-wide scope, its focusing on issues hardly examined before (e.g. the land question) and its detailed discussion of the relationship between ideas and policies.
Contributors: Felix Aubel has recently completed a PhD thesis at the University of Wales, Lampeter; Stephen Brooke is Professor of History at Dalhouse University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Martin Daunton is Professor of British History at University College, London; Richard Finlay is Lecturer in History at the University of Strathclyde; Martin Francis is Lecturer in History at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth; Mark Garnett is Lecturer in Politics at the University of Bristol; Lord Gilmour is the author of Dancing with Dogma; Ewen Green is Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford; David Jarvis is Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford; Harriet Jones is Lecturer at the University of Luton; Rodney Lowe is Reader in Social and Economic History at the University of Bristol; Sian Nicholas is Lecturer in History at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth; Ian Packer is Lecturer in History at the University of Teesside; Jeremy Smith is Lecturer in History at the University of Wales, Lampeter; Jim Tomlinson is Reader in Government at Brunel University; Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska is Lecturer in Social and Economic History at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.
Martin Francis and Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska Introduction
PART ONE
Ideology Jeremy Smith Conservative Ideology and
Representations of the Union with Ireland 1885-1914; Ian Packet
The Conservatives and the Ideology of Landownership 1910þ1914;
Martin Francis `Set the People Free'? Conservatives and the
State 1920-1960; Mark Garnett and Lord Gilmour Thatcherism
and the Conservative Tradition
PART TWO
Identity Felix Aubel The Conservatives in Wales 1880-1935;
Richard Finlay Scottish Conservatism and Unionism since 1918;
Sian Nicholas The Construction of National Identity; Stanley Baldwin,
`Englishness' and the Mass Media in Interwar Britain; Stephen
Brooke The Conservative Party, Immigration, and National Identity
1948-1968
PART THREE
Gender David Jarvis The Conservative Party and the Politics
of Gender 1900-1939 Ina Zweiniger- Bargielowska Explaining
the Gender Gap: The Conservative Party and the Women's Vote 1945-1964
PART FOUR
Policy Ewen Green The Conservative Party, the State and
Social Policy 1880-1914 Harriet Jones The Cold War and the
Santa Claus Syndrome: Dilemmas in Conservative Social Policy-Making
1945-1957 Rodney Lowe The Replanning of the Welfare State
1957-1964 Jim Tomlinson `Liberty with Order': Conservative Economic
Policy 1951þ1964 Martin Daunton `A Kind of Tax Prison':
Rethinking Conservative Taxation Policy 1960-1970.