Never Had it So Good 1956-63: A History of Britain from Suez to the Beatles - Britain in the Sixties - Tapa dura

'A clever and engaging study of Britain as it prepared to swing into the sixties. Never Had It So Good is very good indeed' Amanda Foreman; 'A wonderful book - a most accomplished, readable and convincing tour through seven years from Suez to Beatlemania. It is refreshing because it probes beneath the surface of events, dissolving many of the myths of the sixties and suggesting, quite rightly, that this was a period of uneven and gradual change rather than a revolution' Lawrence James; 'This is a rich treasure-chest of a book ... Sandbrook possesses enough verve and self-confidence to have produced an outstanding example of the genre ... a tour de force' Anthony Howard, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH; 'Refreshing and full of insight. Reading this book is effortless - rather like being pulled down a meandering river in a comfortable boat on a sunny day' SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY

In 1956 the Suez Crisis finally shattered the old myths of the British Empire and paved the way for the tumultuous changes of the decades to come. In NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD, Dominic Sandbrook takes a fresh look at the dramatic story of affluence and decline between 1956 and 1963. Arguing that historians have until now been besotted by the supposed cultural revolution of the Sixties, Sandbrook re-examines the myths of this controversial period and paints a more complicated picture of a society caught between conservatism and change. He explores the growth of a modern consumer society, the impact of immigration, the invention of modern pop music and the British retreat from empire. He tells the story of the colourful characters of the period, like Harold Macmillan, Kingsley Amis and Paul McCartney, and brings to life the experience of the first post-imperial generation, from the Notting Hill riots to the first Beatles hits, from the Profumo scandal to the cult of James Bond. In this strikingly impressive debut, he combines academic verve and insight with colourful, dramatic writing to produce a classic, ground-breaking work that will change forever how we think about the Sixties.