Shellshocked Nation by Alwyn Turner

After the calamity of the Great War, there was a desire in Britain for escapist fun – the lights of the Jazz Age, radio comedies and the pictures were a welcome respite from the grim reality of the Great Depression. Yet the storm clouds were gathering, and Britain between the wars was a turbulent, restless place – and where the foundations of the modern nation were laid.Combining cultural, social and political history, A Shellshocked Nation is the next instalment in Alwyn Turner’s highly original history of the twentieth century, sketching a portrait of the interwar nation through its entertainments and scandals, its people and political crises. From the General Strike to the BBC, Irish Home Rule and the rise of fascism, this is the definitive story of Britain’s most anxious era.

A fresh and inventive social history of interwar Britain, from Armistice and the Spanish flu to the announcement of war

About the Author: Alwyn Turner is a historian and writer who teaches at the University of Chichester. He is best known for his histories of twentieth-century Britain; All in it Together was a Sunday Times Book of the Year, and his last book, Little Englanders, was a Times History Book of the Year.

22 Jan 2026
 

A Shellshocked Nation: Britain Between the Wars by Alwyn Turner ISBN 9781805221876