All In It Together: England in the Early 21st Century
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- Create Date：2022-07-30 03:41:46
- Update Date：2025-09-24
- Status：finish
- Author：Alwyn Turner
- ISBN：1788166736
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Summary
'Turner's seductive blend of political analysis， social reportage and cultural immersion puts him wonderfully at ease with his readers' David Kynaston
'Reading Alwyn Turner's account of life in the first two decades of the 21st century is a bit like trying to recall a dream from three nights ago 。。。 uncannily familiar， but the details are downright implausible ' Kathryn Hughes， Guardian
Weaving politics and popular culture into a mesmerising tapestry， historian Alwyn Turner tells the definitive story of the Blair， Brown and Cameron years。 Some details may trigger a laugh of recognition （the spectre of bird flu; the electoral machinations of Robert Kilroy-Silk）。 Others are so surreal you could be forgiven for blocking them out first time around （did Peter Mandelson really enlist a Candombl� witch doctor to curse Gordon Brown's press secretary？）。
The deepest patterns， however， only reveal themselves at a certain distance。 Through the Iraq War and the 2008 crash， the rebirth of light entertainment and the rise of the 'problematic'， Turner shows how the crisis in the soul of a nation played out in its daily dramas and nightly distractions。
'Reading Alwyn Turner's account of life in the first two decades of the 21st century is a bit like trying to recall a dream from three nights ago 。。。 uncannily familiar， but the details are downright implausible ' Kathryn Hughes， Guardian
Weaving politics and popular culture into a mesmerising tapestry， historian Alwyn Turner tells the definitive story of the Blair， Brown and Cameron years。 Some details may trigger a laugh of recognition （the spectre of bird flu; the electoral machinations of Robert Kilroy-Silk）。 Others are so surreal you could be forgiven for blocking them out first time around （did Peter Mandelson really enlist a Candombl� witch doctor to curse Gordon Brown's press secretary？）。
The deepest patterns， however， only reveal themselves at a certain distance。 Through the Iraq War and the 2008 crash， the rebirth of light entertainment and the rise of the 'problematic'， Turner shows how the crisis in the soul of a nation played out in its daily dramas and nightly distractions。
Reviews
Andrew
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Modern modern history - GREEEAT！
Ipswichblade
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I have read all of Alwyn Turner’s books on the 70s， 80s and 90s and always enjoyed them。 This was an easy read and still enjoyable but slightly different from the earlier books。 Turner has always been very straightforward regarding politicians giving a very balanced view across the political spectrum。 Unfortunately Turner comes across as a huge fan boy of Nigel Farage and continually praises him and can see nothing wrong with the man’s awful racist views。 It’s quite a coincidence to be reading t I have read all of Alwyn Turner’s books on the 70s， 80s and 90s and always enjoyed them。 This was an easy read and still enjoyable but slightly different from the earlier books。 Turner has always been very straightforward regarding politicians giving a very balanced view across the political spectrum。 Unfortunately Turner comes across as a huge fan boy of Nigel Farage and continually praises him and can see nothing wrong with the man’s awful racist views。 It’s quite a coincidence to be reading this at the current time when Farage is praising Putin and blaming the EU and NATO for his invasion of Ukraine when the previous time he said this in 2014 is discussed in the book。 。。。more
Simon Howard
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This is a recently published history of UK politics in the years 2000 to （roughly） 2015， told mostly from the perspective of the newspaper coverage of the time。 Turner tries to place the politics in a context though plentiful references to popular media。I was surprised that I found this a little bit of a slog。 For example， Turner devotes many more pages to Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown than to the 2005 London bombings， which is a curious approach。 For all the strange choices， Turner never reaches broader c This is a recently published history of UK politics in the years 2000 to （roughly） 2015， told mostly from the perspective of the newspaper coverage of the time。 Turner tries to place the politics in a context though plentiful references to popular media。I was surprised that I found this a little bit of a slog。 For example， Turner devotes many more pages to Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown than to the 2005 London bombings， which is a curious approach。 For all the strange choices， Turner never reaches broader conclusion nor draws out the hidden themes behind the history of the times。 As a result， this ended up feeling like an eclectic collection of stories with little unifying thread， and I was left wondering what point （if any） Turner was trying to make。Another example of how this is just a bit odd in its choice of subject matter and coherence: there’s a big picture on the cover of Lily Allen， by far the most prominent female face。 She is mentioned only once in passing in the book， in a list of pop stars who went to private schools。 How strange！ 。。。more
Tom
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Make no mistake this was an enjoyable book to read， but it could have covered a wider range of topics， instead veering too much into the political situations。 A lot of interesting information was in the epilogue which merited its own chapter almost。 It would have also been interesting if Brexit had been included。 Apart from being a slight lopsided read though， the information is well written and easy to follow， and for anyone who saw everything on the news it’s a fascinating insight。
Hannah
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This was a really interesting political account of recent history， which was a good read for me， as someone who came of age in the middle of the era covered。 However， I was expecting a broader perspective， and found it heavy on the politics。 I do like politics， so this wasn't tragic， but I would have liked a broader， more cultural account。 This was a really interesting political account of recent history， which was a good read for me， as someone who came of age in the middle of the era covered。 However， I was expecting a broader perspective， and found it heavy on the politics。 I do like politics， so this wasn't tragic， but I would have liked a broader， more cultural account。 。。。more
Adam Waters
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A perceptive and engaging history that takes a fresh look on a time that seems like only yesterday and another world。 Turner weaves together politics， pop culture， and technological changes to weave together a new take on a turbulent time。
Jim
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You’ve got to love a serious history book that devotes almost whole chapter to Roy Chubby Brown and seems to revel in the opportunity to quote some of his more outré jokes。 I do like the histories that Alwyn Turner writes as they’re always wide ranging， full of interesting memories and quotes for the time being looked at。 I felt， however， that this was a bit rushed and a bit too contemporary to give an objective analysis of our recent past。 We’re still suffering and dealing with the consequences You’ve got to love a serious history book that devotes almost whole chapter to Roy Chubby Brown and seems to revel in the opportunity to quote some of his more outré jokes。 I do like the histories that Alwyn Turner writes as they’re always wide ranging， full of interesting memories and quotes for the time being looked at。 I felt， however， that this was a bit rushed and a bit too contemporary to give an objective analysis of our recent past。 We’re still suffering and dealing with the consequences of 2008， I feel， for definite conclusions to be drawn about what happened， how we dealt with it and what lessons have been learned。 And what can we say about Blair， Brown and Cameron that we know for certain to be true？ The ink’s still drying on their biographies and autobiographies and I’m sure we haven’t heard or seen the last of any of them， unfortunately。Saying that， this is an entertaining read even if it is more “Modern Studies” than “History”。 While there’s a feeling that we are being given light sketches of events as opposed to in depth analysis， that’s no bad thing。 I don’t want to read about politics， politics and politics， and Turner ensures that we don’t。 I did like some of his postulations about how Britain is changing as we speak and the featuring of Chubby Brown was used to demonstrate how working class culture is increasingly being trampled， ignored and disdained in mainstream media at the expense of middle class and public school cultural mores。 As Turner points out， Jimmy Carr says a lot worse stuff than Chubby and isn’t beyond the pale。 A posh voice has become a ticket to influence again， and “class” is an area that tolerance seems to have forgotten when society punches downward。 We’ve made big media and social strides with regards to race， equality and sexual preference， but God， don’t we hate that white， tattooed bloke in the battered Transit van flying a St George’s Cross？ Let’s ignore him。Of course， as Turner points out， Chubby and the guy in the van can’t be ignored。 Doing so promotes the rise of populism， the antithesis of the liberal elite， and delivers such illiberal， middle class horrors as Brexit。 You have to laugh and Turner ensures that you do。There’s some big events covered that are difficult to yet put in context。 How much did the ‘phone hacking scandal change our attitude to the media and change the way they conduct themselves？ Did MP’s learn anything from the expenses scandal？ Did police， local councils and social workers change their ways following the sexual abuse uncovered in Rotherham and elsewhere？ As social media took over much of the culture via Twitter and Facebook did they actually change anything？ I feel the jury is still out on all these questions。 As I finished the book I felt that this was a primer for more weighty works to come that will examine the decade and years before the Brexit referendum。 Unfortunately my preference would be for Alwyn Turner to write them， and I felt that maybe he’d just jumped the gun with this volume。 He’s still my favourite historian of modern times and resultantly I’d recommend this and all his other books。 I feel I’ll be re-reading most of them in twenty years and mumbling to myself “Ah， those were the days”， because of the overall warm tone and content that is captured within them。 。。。more
Bookthesp1
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