Product Description

The fitting conclusion to the remarkableand highly acclaimed The Pride and the Fall sequence. Between the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 and the Suez debacle of 1956, Great Britain squandered every opportunity to re-invent herself as industrial nation. While Japan and Germany progressed and evolved, Britain stagnated. The new technologies passed her by, leaving other countries to dominate market share. All this while industry stalled under prolonged industrial action and a chronic shortage of skilled workers. Correlli Barnett examines how British leaders and public opinion became beguiled by Britain's immediate past; as a victor in The Second World War, as an imperial power and by the ideals passed down from the Victorian age. The Verdict of Peace grippingly evokes the dying embers of Britain's twentieth-century influence. Controversial and original, this is the definitive study of Britain's decline as a great industrial nation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #886746 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 736 pages

About the Author
Corelli Barnett is a distinguished author and historian, having written three acclaimed works of military history before the immense and highly praised earlier books in the Pride and Fall sequence. From 1977 to 1995 he was keeper of the Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge and remains a fellow of Churchill College. The recipient of numerous awards, he has been awarded the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies Chesney Gold Medal for services to military history; the degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) from Cranfield University and most recently the C.B.E.

Customer Reviews

Pride & Fall sequence
Reviews of Audit of War, The Lost Peace. These books, in the "Pride & Fall" sequence, are some of the most stimulating I have read. Professor Barnett is highly polemical. Yet he produces ample evidence to support his analysis, much of it drawn from official government archives. In essence, he claims Britain has suffered from an innappropriate education system, romantic dreams of empire and his analysis of a "New Jerusalem", poor management and low productivity, alongside Government spending on the wrong priorities. Even if readers disagree with the likely implications for the future, at least Prof Barnett offers a thorough grounding in past mistakes.

Dr Alec Kellaway, MBA, PhD.