Family Britain, 1951-1957 - Hardcover

David Kynaston was born in Aldershot in 1951. He has been a professional historian since 1973 and has written fifteen books, including The City of London (1994-2001), a widely acclaimed four-volume history, and W.G.'s Birthday Party, an account of the Gentleman vs. the Players at Lord's in July 1898. He is the author of Austerity Britain, 1945-51, the first title in a series of books covering the history of post-war Britain (1945-1979) under the collective title 'Tales of a New Jerusalem'. He is currently a visiting professor at Kingston University.

“Kyanston has again written a masterpiece. More vividly and profoundly than any other historical work I've read, [Family Britain] captures the rhythms and texture of everyday life and the collective experience of a nation.” ―Benjamin Schwarz, Atlantic Monthly

“Weaving together diaries, newspapers, polls, and other primary sources, Kynaston maps the fine grain of daily life.” ―New Yorker

“Memories, myths, half-true recollection, fantasy: this is the difficult and exciting territory of social history. David Kynaston's massive projected history of postwar Britain from 1945 to 1979 is titled Tales of a New Jerusalem, echoing William Blake...Kynaston tells the story of people's lives during this time by compiling a range of contemporary voices from varied backgrounds and applying an historian's retrospective structure and gentle analysis. He gathers material from private and archived diaries and from novels and memoirs by professional writers, biographers, and others whose lives publishers deemed worth recording...Kynaston deals with the totality of social life in his book.” ―Jenny Diski, Harper's Magazine

“I have decided to vent my spleen by embarking on a series of books that, I hope, will be of no interest whatsoever to the readership of this magazine. David Kynaston's superlative Austerity Britain is more than six hundred pages long and deals with just six years, 1945–51, in the life of my country. The second volume in the series, Family Britain, 1951–57, has already been published, so I plan to move on to that next; Kynaston is going to take us through to Margaret Thatcher's election in 1979, and I'm warning you now that I plan to read every single word, and write about them in great detail in this column.” ―Nick Hornby, The Believer

“With the previous volume, this is sure to be a staple in the British history genre. It will resonate most with serious Anglophiles and with a scholarly audience ... could serve as an excellent source in all academic library British history collections.” ―Library Journal

“As Kynaston juggles a staggering number of sources, he gives us an audaciously intimate, rich, and atmospheric history that is so real, you can just about taste it.” ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Robustly researched and engagingly written with a light wit, this selection will leave readers looking forward to future installments on the Macmillan years and beyond.” ―Booklist

“Captures the stolid, charmingly evolving open spirit of the British people.” ―Kirkus Reviews