Seasons in the Sun: Britain, 1974-1979

Dominic Sandbrook''s magnificent account of the late 1970s in Britain

The late 1970s were Britain''s years of strife and the good life. They saw inflation, riots, the peak of trade union power - and also the birth of home computers, the rise of the ready meal and the triumph of a Grantham grocer''s daughter who would change everything. Dominic Sandbrook recreates this extraordinary period in all its chaos and contradiction, revealing it as a turning point in our recent history, where, in everything from families and schools to punk and Doctor Who, the future of the nation was being decided.

''Magnificent ... if you lived through the late Seventies - or, for that matter, even if you didn''t - don''t miss this book'' Mail on Sunday

''Sandbrook has created a specific style of narrative history, blending high politics, social change and popular culture ... always readable and assured ... [A] splendid book'' Stephen Robinson, Sunday Times

''[Sandbrook] has a remarkable ability to turn a sow''s ear into a sulk purse. His subject is depressing, but the book itself is a joy ... Sandbrook is, without doubt, superb ... Seasons in the Sun is a familiar story, yet seldom has it been told with such verve'' Gerard DeGroot, Seven

''A brilliant historian ... I had never fully appreciated what a truly horrible period it was until reading Sandbrook'' A. N. Wilson, Spectator

''Nuanced ... Sandbrook has rummaged deep into the cultural life of the era to remind us how rich it was, from Bowie to Dennis Potter, Martin Amis to William Golding'' Damian Whitworth, The Times

''Sharply and fluently written ... entertaining ... By making you quite nostalgic for the present, Sandbrook has done a public service'' Evening Standard