David Kynaston - Modernity Britain: Opening the Box, 1957-59

The following kindly gave me permission to reproduce copyright material: Evelyn Abrams (Mark Abrams); The Agency (London) Ltd (extracts from the writing of Arnold Wesker; extract from As Much As I Dare Arnold Wesker, 1994; extract from Weskers piece in Charles Marowitz et al, The Encore Reader Arnold Wesker 1970; letter to New Statesman Arnold Wesker, 1959; letter to Charles Parker Arnold Wesker, 2001, as quoted in Paul Leslie Long, The Aesthetics of Class in Post-War Britain . All rights reserved); Aitken Alexander Associates (extracts from the diaries of John Fowles J. R. Fowles Ltd); Lady Diana Baer (Mollie Panter-Downes); BBC Written Archives Centre; Ken Blakemore ( Sunnyside Down ); Alan Brodie Representation Ltd (extracts from The Nol Coward Diaries copyright NC Aventales AG 1982); Jonathan Clowes Ltd (extract from Walking in the Shade Doris Lessing 1997; extract from The Small Personal Voice by Doris Lessing in Declaration , ed Tom Maschler 1957; extract from The Four-Gated City copyright Doris Lessing 1969); John Cousins (Frank Cousins); Virginia Crossman (Richard Crossman); Curtis Brown Group Ltd, London (on behalf of the Trustees of the Mass-Observation Archive, copyright Trustees of the Mass-Observation Archive); The Dartington Hall Trust Archive; Mary Evans, Centennial Professor, London School of Economics ( A Good Schoo l ); Ray Galton and Alan Simpson (extract from the opening sequence from Hancocks Half Hour , Sunday Afternoon at Home); Roy Greenslade ( Goodbye to the Working Class ); Rachel Gross (Geoffrey Gorer); Pamela Hendicott (Judy Haines); Islington Local History Centre (Gladys Langford); the Liverpool Echo ; The Trustees of the Harold Macmillan Book Trust (extracts from the late Harold Macmillans diaries); Jamie Muir and Denis Norden (Frank Muir and Denis Norden Archive); News Group Newspapers Ltd Archive ( John Hilton Bureau); Allan Preston (Kenneth Preston); The Random House Group Limited (extracts from Years of Hope: Diaries, Letters and Papers 19401962 by Tony Benn, published by Hutchinson; extracts from Dear Tom: Letters from Home by Tom Courtenay, published by Doubleday; extracts from Culture and Society 17801950 by Raymond Williams, published by Chatto & Windus); Marian Ray and Robin Raynham (Marian Raynham); Rogers, Coleridge and White Ltd ( Diaries 1939 1972 by Frances Partridge Copyright Frances Partridge 1985); The Society of Authors as the Literary Representative of the Estate of Philip Larkin (extracts from the unpublished letters of Philip Larkin); Roxana and Matthew Tynan ( Theatre Writings by Kenneth Tynan); United Agents LLP (extracts from The Kenneth Williams Diaries The Estate of Kenneth Williams); Phyllis Willmott; The Wylie Agency (UK) Ltd (extracts from reviews published in the Spectator of The Uses of Literacy and Family and Kinship in East London , and extracts from Socialism and the Intellectuals and The Letters of Kingsley Amis , all Kingsley Amis); Toby Young (Michael Young).

Many people have helped to make this book happen, and (with apologies to anyone inadvertently omitted) I am grateful to: Mark Aston; Joe Bailey; Michael Banton; Sophie Bridges; Mike Burns; Nigel Cochrane; James Codd; Nick Corbo-Stuart; Fiona Courage; Helen Ford; John Gold; Adam Harwood; Sir Antony Jay; Helen Langley; Rose Lock; Sandy Macmillan; Duncan Marlor; Nick Mays; Louise North; Jonathan Oates; Stanley Page; Jessica Scantlebury; John Symons; Sue Taylor; Richard Thorpe; Lisa Towner; Jenny Uglow; Karen Watson; Annalisa Zisman (Back to Balance).

In addition, a special thank you goes to Amanda Howard (Superscript Editorial Services) for her meticulous transcribing of my tapes, and to four fellow-historians for their generosity and encouragement: Richard Davenport-Hines, Juliet Gardiner, Dil Porter and Andy Ward.

The endgame of any book has its challenges, and I would like to thank: Harry Ricketts (for making helpful stylistic suggestions); David Milner (for running a sympathetic but dispassionate eye over a draft at a particularly valuable moment); Andrea Belloli (for her copy-editing skills); Catherine Best, Patric Dickinson and David Warren (for their careful and constructive proof-reading); Christopher Phipps (for his excellent index). Between them they have done much to improve this books quality.

Bloomsbury remains a fine publishing house, combining professionalism with a human touch, and I am especially grateful to my editor Bill Swainson and his colleagues Nick Humphrey and Anna Simpson.

I am fortunate to have Deborah Rogers as my agent, and my heartfelt thanks go to her and her colleague Mohsen Shah.

My deepest debt is twofold: to my family (Lucy, Laurie, George and Michael) for their unfailing practical as well as emotional support; and to the doctors, nurses and staff of the Trevor Howell Ward at St Georges, Tooting, for their care and kindness after my life took an unexpected turn around the time of the Olympics.

New Malden

January 2013

Also available by David Kynaston

Austerity Britain

19451951

David Kynastons landmark post-war history, Austerity Britain 194551 presents a breathtaking portrait of our nation through eyewitness accounts, newspapers of the time and previously unpublished diaries. Drawing on the everyday experiences of people from all walks of life, Austerity Britain covers the length and breadth of the country to tell its story. This is an unsurpassed social history: intensely evocative to those who were there and eye-opening for their children and grandchildren.

This book is both a history and a triumphant work of art Observer

Even readers who can remember the years Kynaston writes about will find they are continually surprised by the richness and diversity of his material mouth-watering John Carey, Sunday Times

Austerity Britain kicks off a series by the same author that will end in 1979, with the election of Margaret Thatcher. What a treat we have in store ***** Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday Book of the Week

This is a classic; buy at least three copies one for yourself and two to give to friends and family Guardian

A cracking read evocative and entertaining Daily Telegraph

ISBN: 978 0 7475 9923 4 / Paperback / 12.99

Tales of a New Jerusalem is a projected sequence of books about Britain between 1945 and 1979. The first two, A World to Build and Smoke in the Valley , are gathered together in the volume Austerity Britain ; the next two, The Certainties of Place and A Thicker Cut , in the volume Family Britain . Accordingly, Opening the Box is the fifth book in the sequence, and in effect comprises the first half of the volume Modernity Britain , which is intended to cover the years 195762.

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