The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century British Politics - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198601344 ISBN 13: 9780198601340

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2002

Synopsis

From Tony Blair to Tonypandy, the BBC to the Bank of England, The Oxford Companion to 20th Century British Politics is an essential source of information on the full range of British political life during the last 100 years.
In this comprehensive and authoritative guide, more than 100 contributors--journalists, scholars, former cabinet secretaries, and other specialists-provide more than 3,000 entries on a wide variety of subjects. Organized alphabetically, the entries cover the important ideas, institutions, people and events that have defined modern British politics. The scope of the companion is necessarily wide, moving from formal politics to the political culture of films, television, and the media, and from domestic economic debates to Britain's changing role on the world stage. Major conflicts and economic events, slogans and sayings, clubs, charities, and societies--the complete world of British politics is captured in this unique reference source.
The companion also includes a wealth of additional resources: a list of office holders from 1900 to the present day, a table of election results up to and including the 2001 elections, the dates of ministries, and a topical table of contents.

About this title

About the Author

John Ramsden is professor of history at Queen Mary College, University of London. His other books include Ruling Britannia and An Appetite for Power-The History of the Conservative Party.

Reviews

This guide to British politics in our most recently completed century provides 3,000 alphabetically arranged entries. More than 100 contributors represent a broad spectrum of experts including journalists, scholars, and former cabinet secretaries.

Entries cover ideas (Fascism, Imperialism); issues (Football hooliganism, Welsh language); economics (North Sea oil and gas, Poll tax); legislation (Clean Air Act, 1956; Secret ballot); organizations (Colonial Office, Oxfam); the media (BBC World Service, Morning Post); events (Blitz, General Strike); personalities (Major, John; Orwell, George); and more. Treatment ranges from short, dictionary-style entries to longer discussions of such topics as Arts policy, Immigration, and Liberal Party. Some of the longest entries are devoted to prime ministers. The detailed "Classified Contents List" allows the reader to browse entry headings in topical categories. For instance, "Political Biographies" is sorted by political party as well as by categories such as "Scottish Nationalists," "Private Secretaries to Royal Family," and "Judges." "Election Manifestos" and "Quotations and Phrases" are interesting categories under which entry headings such as Britain Belongs to You and "Jaw-jaw is better than war-war" can be found.

Three appendixes provide tabular data, including dates of the ministries (giving the prime minister, date of formation, and party); officeholders of each ministry; and results of the general elections from 1900 to 2001 with the number of candidates of each party, the number of Members of Parliament elected, and the number of votes.

This readable source would be a worthwhile purchase for academic and larger public libraries, particularly those with substantial British collections. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

As the title implies, this is a reference tool for students of the British political system. Covering a century of British political life, the book's 100 contributors are mostly English academics, including editor Ramsden (Univ. of London). Their 3000 entries range from the philosophical "Psephology: The Study of Elections" to the plainly political "Iron Lady," cited as "a Soviet nickname for Margaret Thatcher." Most entries run a dense paragraph or two, with the EU getting a full page, equal to the coal industry. Some, but not all, entries give references for further reading. The Companion's topics are a little idiosyncratic: the "Official" and "Provisional" branches of the IRA are included, while "The Real IRA," responsible for the Omagh bombing also absent and a threat to the peace process, is missing. The work does well with political colloquialisms that will be harder to understand with the passage of time and in documenting politicians with verbal economy. Some of the subject titles could stand editing, e.g., "Cabinet, Development Of." Still, for its comprehensiveness, this encyclopedia should prove to be a useful reference tool for academic and high school collections and for larger public collections. Robert Moore, Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging, Billerica, MA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198601344
• ISBN 13: 9780198601340
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 764
• Editor: Ramsden John