Welcome to our A level history series for OCR's Modern Britain 1930-1997. Ranging from the biggest international economic depression in modern history, through a world war to dramatic economic and social change, our series will provide you with detailed insight and address the key arguments across the core events and protagonists. Written by Professor Eric Evans, recognised as one of the leading historians of this period, and Mike Wells, a highly experienced writer and examiner, the series will not only provide you with the knowledge required for your course but will deliver a deeper look at key aspects affecting Britain during this period.
Lead examiner and author
Emeritus Professor of History
Lancaster University
Audiopi has been very useful and I am singing your praises. Our students achieved 93% grades 4-9 at literature - and the podcasts really helped our pupils to go into the exams feeling confident about the texts.Also, the podcasts are very engaging and particularly useful for helping pupils who struggle with reading chunks of text, such as those with dyslexia
I like the way I can listen to a debate on the way home from school; I don’t have to be in a classroom or at a desk!
“We are loving the podcasts! I have got all my history students into them and they can't quite believe their luck.”
“Since purchasing Audiopi, we have seen a large growth in both motivation and progress within our students. A truly valuable resource for any student to use, regardless of ability”
"I came top of the class all thanks to Audiopi"
"As an English Teacher I can confidently say that every English Teacher would love to have Audiopi”
Audiopi has brought a different dimension to pupil revision. We were particularly impressed by the combination of core examination content and involvement of high profile historians; highly recommended!”
“Amazingly helpful. I’m a Year 10 student who has had this bought for me, it is very helpful and has shown me more POV’s on the poems. 10/10 would recommend.
"We are loving the podcasts! I have got all my history students into them and they can't quite believe their luck." Helen Jolliffe, Acting Head of History Churcher's College
"It is an excellent idea - so easily accessed and very much in tune with the style in which the young operate." Martin Marriot ex Headmaster of Canford
"Audiopi is an inspirational tool for both students and educators" Keir Reeves, Life Fellow, Cambridge University
In 1930 Britain was trying to come to terms with the effect of the biggest international economic depression in modern history. Economic matters brought down the Labour government and led to Britain being ruled by a coalition until 1945. They also influenced Britain’s reaction to the threat from the rise of Hitler and from aggressive regimes in Italy and Japan. Britain wanted to avoid war when she could not afford to build up her arms, but international events made the policy of appeasement impossible and in 1939 Britain was once again involved in a world war. That war, while less costly than World War I had huge effects on Britain. Britain’s wartime leader Winston Churchill was a hero to many but has suffered from revisionist historical analysis about his leadership, his aims and how well he led the country, unthinkable during the war when he was a symbol of national defiance and unity.
It made it impossible to maintain control of the greatest of our imperial possessions, India and it led to the creation of the Welfare State, perhaps the greatest change of the century. The period of austerity and hardship changed in the 1950s into a period of greater affluence; but by the 1960s there were fears that Britain was falling behind. These became acute by the late 1970s and resulted in another seismic shift in British life with the election of Margaret Thatcher as prime minister. She presided over a major change in British life, with the reduction of government regulation, trade union power and rights and the subsidising of old industries, specially coal mining. Britain changed once again. However, Thatcherism had severe critics both inside and outside the party. Thatcher’s fall in 1990 led to a new type of conservatism under John Major while Labour developed its appeal through Tony Blair and ‘New Labour’. Once again in 1997 as in 1945, in 1964 and in 1979 Britain voted for a period of renewal.
20th Century Britain Reading List
General Texts
An Introduction to British History, 1900-1999. Michael Lynch. 2nd ed Hodder 2000 1-34-078256-0
Britain, 1930-1997. Mike Wells. Hodder Education 2015 1-47-183729-7
Britain 1900-57: Michael Lynch. 2nd ed Hodder, Access to History 2015 1-47-183869-2
Britain 1951-2007: Michael Lynch. 2nd ed Hodder, Access to History 2015 1-47-183909-5
Britain Domestic Politics, 1918-39: Robert Pearce. 2nd ed Hodder, Access to History 2000 1-47-078256-0
Twentieth-Century Britain: a Very Short Introduction. K.O.Morgan, Oxford University Press, 2000 1-19-285392-X
Britain since 1945: A Political History. David Childs, 7th ed Routledge, London, 2012
Britain 1914—2000. Derrick Murphy. Flagship History. Collins Educational, London, 0-00-327131-5
Britain 1929-98. Chris Rowe. Heinemann Advanced History, London, 2004, 0-43-532738-0
20th-Century Britain: Economic, Cultural and Social Change. (ed.) Francesca Carnivali, 2nd ed Routledge, London, 2007 0-58-277287-8
British Foreign Affairs: Saving Europe at a Cost 1919-60? Alan Farmer, 4th ed Hodder, ‘Access to History’, London, 2009 0-34-098497-X
M.Wells, Churchill, 1920-45. Heinemann Educational, London, 2010 1-43-531258-8
Hope and Glory: Britain 1900-2002. Peter Clark, 2nd ed Penguin, London, 2004
A History of Modern Britain. Andrew Marr. Pan, London, 2009 0-33-051147-5
More specialist works
The People’s Peace: British History, 1945-1990. K.O.Morgan Oxford, 2nd ed, 2001 0-19-280225-9
Seeking a Role: the United Kingdom 1951-1970. Brian Harrison, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 2009 0-19-820476-3
Britain since 1945: T.Gourvish and A.O’Day. Palgrave, Basingstoke, 1991 0-33-349158-0
State & Society: A Social and Political History of Britain 1870-1997. Martin Pugh, 4th ed Bloomsbury Academic, London, 2012, 1-78-093041-0
British Society since 1945. Arthur Marwick. 4th ed., Penguin, London, 2003, 0-14-100527-0
Austerity Britain, 1945-1951, David Kynaston. Bloomsbury Publishing (2nd ed, 2008), 0-74-759923-8 (This is the first of a detailed series of Books covering the second half of the 20th century. The other titles are, successively: Family Britain (1957); Modernity Britain, 1957-62
The Empire Project: The Rise and Fall of the British World System, 1851-1970. John Darwin, Cambridge University Press, 2011 edition, 0-52-131789-4
British Culture and the End of Empire. (ed) Stuart Ward, Manchester University Press, 2001 0-71-906048-9
Having it So Good: Britain in the Fifties. Peter Hennessy, Penguin, London, 2007 0-14-100409-6
Sixties Britain: Culture, Society and Politics: Mark Donnelly, Routledge, London, 2005 0-40-58110-7
Churchill: A Biography: Roy Jenkins. Pan Reprints, London, 2002 0-33-048805-8
‘Citizen Clem’: A Biography of Attlee. John Bew. Riverrun, London, 2016 1-78-087989-X
The Age of Affluence. V.Bogdanor & R.Skidelsky. Macmillan, London, 1970 0-33-309267-8
Margaret Thatcher: the Authorized Biography, Vol 1 Not for Turning. Charles Moore. Penguin, London, 2014 0-14-027956-3
Margaret Thatcher: the Authorized Biography, Vol 2 Everything. Charles Moore. Penguin, London, 2015, 0-71-399288-3
Thatcher’s Britain: the Politics and Social Upheaval of the 1980s. Richard Vinen. Simon & Schuster, London, 2010, 1-84-739209-1
Thatcher and Thatcherism. Eric J Evans. 3rd ed, Routledge, London, 2013, 0-41-566018-1
Speak for Britain: a new history of the Labour Part. Martin Pugh. Vintage Publishers, London, 2011, 0-09-952078-8
Log In
