Roseanne Bantick, Penguin Sales Director, has just read Dominic Sandbrook's brilliant new book State of Emergency on life in Britain in the early 70s, and found it incredibly reminiscent of a time she remembers well...
As a child of the 60s I grew up in one of the most fascinating and colourful periods of recent history. The mantra of the time was ‘make love, not war’. And it was an era often defined by its music – The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, the first pop festivals at Woodstock, Hyde Park and the Isle of Wight. The 60s remain in my memory as a wonderful, exciting time.
I left the colourful 60s expecting life to remain much the same – taking with me my platform shoes, psychedelic bell bottom trousers and 'Herbie' my afghan coat . . . and ran headlong into the dreary and chaotic 70s. Striking miners, dustbin men and railway workers brought the country to its knees. The three day working week was introduced to conserve electricity. Britain went decimal, fuelling inflation. Piles of rat-infested rubbish grew in our streets. And power cuts affected heating and cooking, as well as watching television and listening to the radio.
But as Dominic points out in his new book, it wasn't all doom and gloom, as many of the things we fought for in the 60s finally came to fruition in the 70s. Attitudes opened up on divorce, feminism and gay rights. There were also other major social changes, such as the advent of package holidays, and of eating out – which was completely unheard of before the 70s. The 70s started that revolution, which was to completely change our social habits
State of Emergency captures the social and political history of the period and brings it back to life. Whether you were a child of the 60s or 70s, or even much later, I think this book gives a great insight into an important period of British history.
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