England Arise

The 1940s marked a crucial turning point in modern British history. The Second World War disrupted normal patterns of social life and generated an unprecedented public support for radical policies which were to shape government legislation for decades ahead. In 1945 the Labour Party won a landslide election victory and went on to implement an unparalleled reform programme. Labour's triumph raised the possibility in the minds of many party members that the British public, radicalised by fighting Nazism, was ready to help build socialism. "England Arise!" focuses on the Labour Party during this, the most successful phase in its history. The book questions the comforting myths which shroud the decade and goes beyond studying the thoughts and actions of the party's "great and good". Instead, it reconstructs the world view of Labour members and reveals the extent to which the British public, whilst voting Labour, rejected the party's vision of a socialist society. "England Arise!" challenges the conventional view of the 1940s and puts the Labour Party's 1945 victory into a broader context.