Anatomy of Decline

Peter Jenkins, who died in 1992, was widely regarded as the most influential political journalist of his generation. This collection presents his key writings from his columns in "The Guardian" and "The Independent", as well as essay length contributions to journals and magazines. This selection of his journalism covers British, European and American politics between Watergate in 1974 and the 1992 British general election. On the international front, Jenkins provided an outsider's perspective not only on Watergate but also on Vietnam and a succession of American presidents from Nixon to Bush.He also described the fall of communism and the struggles for democracy in Eastern Europe. In the domestic arena, he wrote extensively on the history of the Wilson-Heath years, along with devaluation of the pound, the worsening situation in Northern Ireland, UDI in Rhodesia, the three-day week and the Thatcher years up to John Major's general election victory.