The Death of Consensus

Description

Over Britain’s first century of mass democracy, politics has lurched from crisis to crisis. How does this history of political agony illuminate our current age of upheaval?

To find out, journalist Phil Tinline takes us back to two past eras when the ruling consensus broke down, and the future filled with ominous possibilities – until, finally, a new settlement was born. How did the Great Depression’s spectres of fascism, bombing and mass unemployment force politicians to think the unthinkable, and pave the way to post-war Britain? How was Thatcher’s road to victory made possible by a decade of nightmares: of hyperinflation, military coups and communist dictatorship? And why, since the Crash in 2008, have new political threats and divisions forced us to change course once again?

Tinline brings to life those times, past and present, when the great compromise holding democracy together has come apart; when the political class has been forced to make a choice of nightmares. This lively, original account of panic and chaos reveals how apparent catastrophes can clear the path to a new era. The Death of Consensus will make you see British democracy differently.

Reviews

Phil Tinline discusses The Death of Consensus with Hugo Rifkind, exploring the highs and lows of British politics over the past century:

A Morning Star Best Book of 2022

‘Tinline has a wonderful gift of making political history fun. Carefully researched and vividly written, this book is about personalities as much as principles. He has a keen eye for telling biographical details.’ — Dominic Sandbrook, The Sunday Times

‘One of the most original books on British politics published this year.’ — The Times, ‘Best Political and Current Affairs Books of 2022’

‘One of the most original and enjoyable books on British politics to have appeared for many years. Phil Tinline’s narrative of competing nightmares is compelling.’ — John Gray, New Statesman

‘An insightful and timely new book.’ — Steven Fielding, The Spectator

‘An excellent book about the death of successive political orders.’ — Tom Clark, Prospect

‘One of the best books on politics I’ve ever read.’ — Matthew Taylor, former head of the Number 10 Policy Unit

‘[A] fascinating analysis of the bad dreams that have fashioned Britain’s dominant narratives.’ — Morning Star

Freddie Hayward, political correspondent at the New Statesman, is joined by Phil Tinline to discuss his book:

‘An interesting and discursive view of the continuity of national economic problems that all governments have to confront.’ — Irish Legal News

‘An engaging anecdote-packed history.’ — Foreign Affairs

‘Stylishly written … In the age of Brexit and “post-liberalism”, The Death of Consensus has much to communicate about how Britain has successfully navigated past moments of unnerving shift.’ — The Church Times

Phil Tinline joins Matthew Taylor on RSA’s Bridges to the Future podcast to explain how past political panic and chaos can help illuminate our current age of upheaval.

‘At last, an original big history of British politics in the last 100 years.’ — Sir Anthony Seldon, biographer of prime ministers and co-author of The Impossible Office? 

‘A fascinating exploration of how politicians come to think the unthinkable, The Death of Consensus is essential reading for our age of permacrisis.’ — Helen Lewis, author of Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights

‘Phil Tinline is exceptionally clever, and this fascinating book makes us rethink the British, our government and how we want to be governed. His grasp of the detail and sweep of politics is astonishing, his central idea completely original. He makes us look at familiar faces and events with new clarity, as though we’ve remembered to clean our glasses. Plus, he makes it fun.’ — Miranda Sawyer, journalist and broadcaster

‘This is an epiphany of a book and everyone should read it, urgently. If you want to understand the state we’re in and how we got here, you’ll find no better guide than Phil Tinline. Intelligent, incredibly well-informed and utterly compelling.’ — Manveen Rana, host of Stories of our Times, Times Radio

‘A bracing and highly accessible account of the three most shape-shifting phases in Britain’s modern political history.’ — David Kynaston, author of Austerity Britain; Family Britain; and Modernity Britain

The Times Red Box reporter Lara Spirit is joined by Phil Tinline to discuss The Death of Consensus: 100 Years of British Political Nightmares.

‘A much-needed, nuanced and compelling account. Tinline brilliantly challenges the way we view the past and inspires us to take a fresh look.’ — Steve Richards, author of The Prime Ministers We Never Had

‘An account of modern Britain unlike any other. Tinline’s portrait of people and ideas is witty, affectionate and angry, reintroducing us to a place we thought we knew, but which looks fresh through his eyes.’ — Rana Mitter, historian and Vice-President of the British Academy

‘Admirers of Phil Tinline’s radio programmes are in for a treat. Here in proper portion size is his trademark fast-paced history of political ideas, studded with stories about Barbara Castle and Keith Joseph. Delicious.’ — Aditya Chakrabortty, Senior Economics Commentator, The Guardian

‘This perceptive and sharply insightful book will change how you think about consensus itself–let alone how it is established and retained. It’s a riveting new lens through which to reassess some key moments from the last century.’ — James Ball, Global Editor, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

Author(s)

Phil Tinline is a freelance writer and documentary-maker. Over the course of twenty years working for BBC Radio, he made and presented many acclaimed documentaries about how political history shapes our lives. He has written for The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, BBC History Magazine, Prospect, Unherd, Engelsberg Ideas and The New Statesman.