Never Again : Britain 1945-1951

Winner of the Duff Cooper Prize
Winner of the NCR Award for Non-Fiction

From the high politics of Court and Cabinet room to the kitchen or the queue, Peter Hennessy''s Never Again: Britain 1945-51, the first part of his Post-War Trilogy, recreates life in early post-war Britain.

''Hennessy conjures up the Attlee years more vividly than any previous writer'' Ben Pimlott, Guardian

At the end of the Second World War Britain was in flux. It was an age of rationing and rebuilding; when hope for a better future contrasted with the horror of war.

Fresh ideals emerged during the common experience of the conflict and the new, widespread belief that everyone should be treated equally led to the creation of the ''welfare state'' and the NHS, despite tough economic circumstances. Internationally, Britain was finding a place in a world increasingly overshadowed by Cold War with the Soviet Union.

''A joy to read'' Sunday Times

''Hennessy is never for a moment dull'' Philip Ziegler, Daily Telegraph

''Hennessy is the antithesis of the dry-as-dust academic historian. He laughs a great deal, and punctuates his writing with cheery and illuminating anecdotes'' Ian Aitken, Guardian

''A sympathetic, highly readable, meticulously researched account of the Cabinet room politics and popular habits of life and recreation during the high noon of Labourism'' Roy Jenkins, Observer