After the Victorians

HowdidBritaindecline?A.N.Wilsongoesinsearchofananswerinhismasterlyfollow-uptohisbestsellingTheVictorians.InTheVictorians,theauthortoldthestoryofGreatBritaininherpre-eminence.ItendedwithBritainasthemightiest,richestnationonearth,possessedofahugeempire.Thatbook,however,isfullofforebodingsandharbingersofdisaster.Thisfollow-upbookisthestoryofthedeclineofBritain—andwithit,thedeclineofmanyofthethingsthatVictorianBritainstoodfor.Furthermore,Wilsonwillshow,theseedsofitsundoinghadbeentherefromthebeginning.AsinTheVictorians,thisbookhasapanoramicsweep,buildingupaportraitoftheage—theCommunistRevolution,twoworldwars,theSpanishCivilWar,andtheunstoppablegrowthofAmericaasadominantworldpowerandthebeginningsoftheColdWar.ThisistheerainwhichBritainwassidelinedfromitsimportanceinworldpolitics.AlongsidethisisthestoryofthebeginningsofModernisminartandmusic,andradicalnewphilosophicalsystemsofthought.A.N.Wilsonvisitsthenovelists,thephilosophers,thepoetsandthepainterstoseewhatlighttheythrewontheactivitiesofthepoliticians,thescientistsandthegenerals.Puttingtogethermilitary,political,socialandculturalhistory,AftertheVictorianscreatesapanoramicviewoftheera,andskillfullyidentifiesthesourcesandcausesofBritain’sdecline.FromtheHardcoveredition.