Politics of the Past
Inter-war Memories and the Making of British Popular Politics, 1939–2009

How did the everyday stories that ordinary British people told about the 1920s and 1930s shape later ideas about politics?

David Cowan (Author)

9781009340281, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 11 April 2024

300 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 2 cm, 0.59 kg

'This excellent monograph by David Cowan charts how the memories, histories, and stories of the interwar period in Britain have been shaped and have influenced politics and society since. 'Politics of the Past' brings together history, politics, and the family in new and fascinating ways, making several important contributions to the field of modern British history.' Laura King, American Historical Review

The inter-war period (1918–1939) is still remembered as a period of mass deprivation – the 'hungry thirties'. But how did this impression emerge? Thousands of conversations about life in the inter-war period – between parents and children around the dinner table; among workmates at the pub – shaped these understandings. In turn, these fed into popular politics. Stories about the embryonic welfare system in the early-twentieth century informed how people felt towards the National Health Service; memories of the Great Depression shaped arguments about state intervention in the economy. Challenging accounts of widespread political disengagement in the twentieth century, Politics of the Past shows how re-telling family stories about the inter-war period offered ordinary people an accessible way of engaging in politics. Drawing on six local case studies across Scotland and England, this book explains how stories about the inter-war working-class experience in industrial areas came to appear commonplace nationwide.

Introduction
1. Glasgow: planning the post-war city
2. London: inter-war memories at home
3. Huddersfield: education and the politics of family memory
4. Luton: migration and workplace politics
5. Aberdeen: healthcare in older age
6. Birmingham: immigration and the global politics of the past
Epilogue.

Subject Areas: 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW]