Social Conflict and the Political Order in Modern Britain

First Published in 1982, Social Conflict and the Political Order in Modern Britain offers a selection of work on British social history done by scholars working in a distinctly American context. The authors strongly feel that the way forward in social history is not some retreat into still more detailed, apolitical history, nor a move away from social analysis back towards a study of the purely political. Rather, it seems that the most fruitful path to follow is to build upon the strengths and achievements of the previous social history with a view towards theorizing its political significance while struggling to create a new kind of political history that will be more integrally social.

The book brings important themes like Britain and the social movements; strikes and the urban hierarchy in English industrial towns; British dockers during First World War; the British Labour and the Cold War; and rethinking labour history and the importance of work. This is a must read for scholars and researchers of labour history, British history, social history and history in general.

James E. Cronin is Research Professor in History who has long taught British, European, comparative and international history. His research interests have involved the relationship between states and social structures, parties, and the rise and fall of the Cold War world order.

Jonathan Schneer is an American historian of modern Britain whose work ranges over labour, political, social, cultural, and diplomatic subjects. He is an emeritus professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology.