The Making of Modern British Politics: 1867 – 1945

Since its first publication in 1982, The Making of Modern British Politics′ has been widely acclaimed as the most sophisticated account of changes in British political history between the 1860s and the outbreak of the Second World War. For the third edition, the text has been extended to cover the politics of the Second World War and the election of 1945, following through to a more satisfying conclusion the changes of the last decades of the nineteenth century. The book focuses on the problems of interpretation and analysis raised by the most recent work in the field. Several of the existing chapters have been revised in light of the latest research, particularly the material on Edwardian electoral politics and the high politics of 1918–1931. The new edition also incorporates current thinking on the Popular Front and Fascism, and looks at how the Labour Party evolved into a national rather than sectional party by recruiting Conservative voters and politicians into its ranks.

Part I: 1867–1900:. 1. Party and Participation 1867–1900. 2. The Evolution of the Gladstonian Liberal Party. 3. The Conservative Revival 1874–1900. 4. The Social Roots of Political Change in Late Victorian Britain. Part II: 1895–1914:. 5. The Edwardian Crisis. 6. Edwardian Progressivism. 7. The Electoral Struggle 1906–1914. Part III: 1914–1920s:. 8. The Impact of the Great War on British Politics. 9. Patriotism, Ideology and the State in the Great War. 10. The Elevation of Labour and the Restoration of Party Politics 1918–1931. 11. Origins of the Conservative Electoral Hegemony. 12. From the National Government to the Popular Front 1931–1939. 13. The Politics of the "People′s War" 1939–1945. Notes. Guide to Further Reading. Index. Illustrations.

Martin Pugh is Research Professor in History at Liverpool John Moores University. His previous books include Electoral Reform in War and Peace (1978), The Tories and the People (1985), Women and the Women′s Movement in Britain (1992) and The March of the Women: a revisionist analysis of the women′s suffrage movement (2000). He is also the editor of Blackwell Publishers′ Companion to Modern European History, 1871–1945 (1997).

"Is to be welcomed. This is a textbook of a superior sort as Pugh disavows the attempt to be a neutral assessor of the work of others and imposes his own interpretation upon the period. This leads to a clearer understanding of events." History Today – of the previous edition <!––end––> "A commanding synthesis ... succeeds brilliantly in finding the right voice to explain what matters now." London Review of Books – of the previous edition "Excellent book, by far the best of its kind on this period ... impressively lucid and consistent ... a remarkable book which will stimulate teachers as well as students for years to come." Society for the Study of Labour History Bulletin – of the previous edition