Review: A History of Modern Britain, Andrew Marr

[major_clanger]

A History of Modern Britain, Andrew Marr

Andrew Marr may be a well-known news anchor, presenter and occasional Dr Who extra, but how good a writer of history is he? Very good indeed, if my reaction to A History of Modern Britain is anything to go by. There aren't many non-fiction doorstops that I devour in a couple of days and immediately want to re-read, but this was one of them. Marr takes on a huge task in seeking to give what is essentially a political history of the nation since 1945, but he does so very well; the book runs up to mid-2007, but an extended foreword to the paperback edition updates it to early 2008.

Marr's writing style is engaging (although he has an odd quirk of not avoiding repeated use of the same word within a sentence, something I do find grating). Perhaps through his background in TV reportage, he does have a penchant for one-liners and quips, although forgivably so as most of them are apt and indeed funny. I rather liked his summary of the Exchange Rate Mechanism, source of such angst in the early 1990s:

"Europe's old currencies ... were supposed to move in close alignment, like a flight of mismatched aircraft in tight formation. [...] Eventually they would fuse and become one, which is where the aircraft analogy falls down, because so would the aircraft."

For me, what came across strongly was the ongoing economic crises that successive new governments had to deal with. Indeed, it rather seems that the only post-war Chancellor of the Exchequer not to be handed a gigantic can of worms on his first day was Gordon Brown in 1997. Understanding this helps put other events into context; as an aviation history enthusiast, I can bitterly regret the cancellation of the TSR-2, but the situation faced by Harold Wilson in 1964 was dire, and the prospect of cheap American F-111s must have been very tempting. True, the next economic crisis and the subsequent collapse of the pound made them unaffordable, but Wilson and Healey weren't to know that.

Marr does a very good job of conveying how society has changed post war - not just from 1945 to now, but in every intervening decade. This was perhaps the first book I've read that noted how far we've moved since 1990, a time that even for me feels not too long ago but which is already socially and politically more remote than we tend to think. What will 2008 look like from 2026, I wonder?

Do I have any quibbles? I'm always a little wary if I spot something that doesn't quite square with my professional knowledge as it makes me wonder if there are issues that other specialists would pick up. Marr quotes Lord Denning on Europe alongside comments from politicians in a way that makes it look as if the famous judge was wading into politics; in fact, I recognised Denning's words as being from a judgment in which he was quite properly explaining the remit of the (then new to the UK) jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. A minor point, but it does leave the suspicion that some of the other memorable remarks he cites might benefit from a little more context.

I expect that there will be much here to annoy many readers; Marr tends to be very even-handed in his assessment of politicians; even Thatcher comes across as deserving some admiration for the sheer scale of social change she wrought in the face of immense little-c conservatism. Interestingly, he gives a much more positive portrayal of Kinnock's achievements than I've seen before; Marr perhaps feels that with the perspective of history, Kinnock can be seen more for what he achieved than for his failure to actually win the 1987 and 1992 elections.

Verdict: well worth reading. You may disagree with bits of it, but you'll probably learn a lot on the way.

Comments

[blue-condition.livejournal.com]

If you liked that, then I think you'd probably also enjoy Dominic Sandbrook's Never Had It So Good (1956-63) and White Heat (1964-70). It's very rare that history is as compelling as a good novel but the two central stories here (of Macmillan and Wilson) set against the social and political backgrounds to Britain in boom and bust are both completely absorbing. I'd love to see Sandbrook working backwards to Attlee and forwards to Thatcher - I understand he's working on a 70s book now.

[waistcoatmark.livejournal.com]

I was impressed by the TV series and bought the book as a result. The two are more different than I expected, but I was enthralled by both.

It put a lot into perspective (my history at school petered after the 20's), and I understand a lot more about the Thatcher era as a result.