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ALAN McGUIRE welcomes the complete poems of Seamus Heaney for the unmistakeable memory of colonialism that they carry
Books: Acute analysis of Britain's mixed-economy mishaps
GORDON PARSONS is fascinated by a musical — and questioning — survey of Shakespeare’s attitude to women
MATTHEW HAWKINS enjoys the work of reading the essays of a rigorous and leading London/Caribbean cultural participant
ALEX HALL appreciates the history of a famous shoot-out that is sourced from diaries, letters, and newspapers of the time
MARIA DUARTE recommends an extraordinary film that explores an absent father’s attempt to make up to his sons
JOHN GREEN, MARIA DUARTE and LEO BOIX review The Shepherd and the Bear, Hamlet, Twinless, and 100 Nights of Hero
The Reinvention of Britain 1960-2016
by Scott Newton
(Routledge, £23.99)
IN 1945, Labour introduced a programme of full employment, public ownership and the welfare state. A brave new world of economic expansion and renewal, it was interrupted by problems of inflation, the adverse balances of international payments and the runs on sterling which continued under later Tory governments.
Those problems continued under the Labour government of Harold Wilson, which in 1964 put the accent on planning and supply side reforms. But the aim of increased growth of 25 per cent up to 1970 was a target not achieved.
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