Twelve Days that Made Modern Britain

by Andrew Hindmoor

This is the story of modern Britain, focusing on twelve formative days in the history of the United Kingdom over the last five decades. By describing what happened on those days and the subsequent consequences, Andrew Hindmoor paints a suggestive - and to some perhaps provocative - portrait of what we have become and how we got here.Everyone will have their own list of the truly formative moments in British history over the last five decades. The twelve days selected for this book The 28th of September 1976. The day Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan renounced Keynesian economics.- The 4th of May 1979. The day Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female prime minister.- The 3rd of March 1985. The day the miners' strike ended.- The 20th of September 1988. The day of Margaret Thatcher's 'Bruges speech'.- The 18th of May 1992. The day the television rights for the Premier League were sold to BskyB.- The 22nd of April 1993. The day that young black teenager Stephen Lawrence was murdered by racist thugs.- The 10th April 1998. The day of the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland.- The 11th of September 2001. The day of the Al Qaeda attacks on the United States.- The 5th of December 2004. The day Chris Cramp and Matthew Roche became the first gay couple in the UK to become civil partners under the Civil Partnership Act.- The 13th of September 2007. The day the BBC reported that the Northern Rock bank was in trouble.- The 8th of May 2009. The day The Daily Telegraph began to publish details of MPs' expense claims.- The 1st of February 2017. The day the House of Commons voted to invoke Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.

Genres: History, Politics

352 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 11, 2019

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I have read many books that look at pivotal moments in history, I can’t think of such a modern look – an account of twelve days which took place from 1976 to 2017 – and all very much times that I can recall, even if I was a child during some of the earlier dates and so details, or understanding, was a trifle hazy.

Obviously, choosing such dates is very subjective and there will ones that the reader does not necessarily think they would choose, or other events left out. However, the author uses these dates as a point of reference and branches out, so he talks about other momentous events, such as the death of Princess Diana, that I thought would have been an obvious choice – although there could have been many others. Other dates, such as September 11th, incorporate world events, which affected us all, rather than those on our own shores.

If you have any interest in politics, (and, at the moment, it would be difficult to say that current events were not interesting…) or world events, then you will enjoy this. Not only does it explain events at that time, but helps understand our journey to our current political situation. A thought provoking, well written and interesting read.

[Edward Stimpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking and well written.

[Steve Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly concise breakdown of some pivotal events, what causes them and the impact they had. Some of the omissions might be contentious, but overall this is an effective historical review.

[Bradley Endsor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting overview of the last 12 days, whilst two days happen outside of Britain they did shape us. If you are looking for a brief but good summation of these events then this book is worth a start and whilst the date of the civil partnership is 05 not 04 it is still a good book, that is worth reading.