Up in the Air : A History of High Rise Britain

How the high-rise Tower Block came to symbolise the welfare state, and what went wrong - from an award-winning debut historian.

How the Rise Rise Tower Block came to symbolise the welfare state, and what went wrong - fron an award-winning debut historian.

Up in the Air tells the story of Britain’s multi-storey council housing from its beginnings to the present day. Throughout its history, high rise has been a symbol of the welfare state for better or worse. Here, Holly Smith tells a new story from the perspective of those who lived there, exploring how residents grappled with this brave new world above the old skyline.

Through a series of historical moments based upon prize-winning research, we confront the human story of high-rise Britain. Interrogating the complex inheritance of mid-century urban reconstruction, Smith shows how these buildings became a crucible for the welfare state’s reimagination over the decades.  


She traces the scattering of a local community during the construction of Park Hill in Sheffield in the 1950s. The resistance of residents after the Ronan Point collapse of 1968. The formation of a pioneering tenants’ cooperative to revive a crumbling estate during the closure of the Docklands. The rage of a National Tower Blocks Network advocating for high-rise safety in the 1980s and 1990s. The excitement of early digital culture in a Liverpudlian pensioners’ high-rise internet television show in the 2000s. And the fierce battle to defend estates from demolition in the 2010s.

Up in the Air is a rich history of political struggle within Britain’s most misunderstood buildings, offering essential lessons for a reformed social housing compact.