Deep Into the Sixties - by David Kynaston (Hardcover)

About the Book

From David Kynaston comes the next instalment in the landmark 'Tales of a New Jerusalem' series, this time immersing readers in the heart of the Sixties.

Book Synopsis

'The most entertaining historian alive' SPECTATOR
'Addictively readable' DOMINIC SANDBROOK, SUNDAY TIMES

A definitive portrait of Britain in the heady throes of the Swinging Sixties, from legendary historian David Kynaston.

It's the heart of the Sixties in Britain - the Beatles are enjoying unprecedented success in the charts, England wins the World Cup at Wembley and optimism and patriotism percolate through the streets. But this is not the full story of mid-Sixties Britain. Disaffection on the political left loomed as a result of the Vietnam War. The catastrophic collapse of the spoil tip in Aberfan killed over 100 people.

This is a time of looking both backwards and forwards - sweeping reforms to secondary education, the burgeoning contemporary popular culture and the invention of the teenager underpin the advent of a new generation. And yet the everyday life for many, especially beyond the thriving metropoles, bore striking resemblance to decades earlier.

Covering the period from February 1965 to July 1966, David Kynaston uses a plethora of contemporary sources, including diaries of ordinary people, to paint a rich and nuanced picture of a Britain on the brink of change. Deep Into the Sixties continues to revolutionise our conceptions of post-war Britain.

Review Quotes

"The most humane and even-handed chronicler of our time" --Guardian

"The most entertaining historian alive" --Spectator

"A richly evocative, thought-provoking and, above all, compassionate study of those who lived through the much-mythologized 1960s (on A Northern Wind)" --Selina Todd, TLS

"This richly flavoured, particoloured, polyvocal melange deserves a slow, luxuriant read (on Modernity Britain)" --Richard Davenport-Hines, Guardian

About the Author

David Kynaston was born in Aldershot in 1951. He holds a degree from the University of Oxford and a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He has been a professional historian since 1973 and has written many books, including The City of London (1994-2001), a widely acclaimed four-volume history, and WG's Birthday Party, an account of the Gentleman v. Players match at Lord's in July 1898. He is the author of Austerity Britain, 1945-51; Family Britain, 1951-57; Modernity Britain 1957-1962; On the Cusp; Days of '62; and A Northern Wind: Britain 1962-65, all volumes in a series covering the history of post-war Britain (1945-79) under the collective title 'Tales of a New Jerusalem'. Till Time's Last Sand: A History of the Bank of England, 1694-2013 was published in 2017. He is also author of Arlott, Swanton and the Soul of English Cricket (2018), which he co-authored with Stephen Fay, Engines of Privilege: Britain's Private School Problem, co-authored with Francis Green, Shots in the Dark: A Diary of Saturday Dreams and Strange Times, an account of the 2016/17 season of David's football team, Aldershot and Richie Benaud's Blue Suede Shoes: The Story of an Ashes Classic co-authored with Harry Ricketts.