From small and largely ineffectual beginnings the British trade union movement gradually emerged into a force to be reckoned with--a powerful organization that, at its peak, could make or break the operation of British politics and industrial relations. A History of British Trade Unionism sets out to describe, discuss and, furthermore, evaluate the major developments in the evolution of the trade union movement and provides an essential and up-to-date summary of the chief debates that have long divided historians. It focuses upon both the institutional nature of trade union growth and the more rank-and-file shopfloor experience which has been the subject of discussion in recent years. In this fascinating book Keith Laybourn examines the problems of trade union growth in the early nineteenth century, the emergence of the so-called 'new model' and 'new unionism' of the late nineteenth century, the link with the Labour Party, the shop stewards' movement since the First World War, inter-war developments including the General Strike in 1926, the success of British trade unionism between the Second World War and the late 1960s and, finally, the more recent decline of British trade unionism particularly in the face of restrictions imposed by the Thatcher governments. A History of British Trade Unionism gives a full and discerning account of the trade union movement from 1770 to the present day and clears an invaluable 'pathway through the forest of detailed research...to enable the general, rather than specialist, reader to appreciate the major debates which have convulsed the study of British trade union history...'.

First published in 1999 , this book discusses trade unionism in Britain from 1964 to 1979. Detailing political change in British politics from union strikes to Thatcherism in the late 1970s and the implications that had on trade unions and industrial politics.

In this, the first full-length treatment of the child in Spanish cinema, Sarah Wright explores the ways that the cinematic child comes to represent 'prosthetic memory'. The central theme of the child and the monster is used to examine the relationship of the self to the past, and to cinema. Concentrating on films from the 1950s to the present day, the book explores religious films, musicals, 'art-house horror', science-fiction, social realism and fantasy. It includes reference to Erice's The Spirit of The Beehive, del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, Mañas's El Bola and the Marisol films. The book also draws on a century of filmmaking in Spain and intersects with recent revelations concerning the horrors of the Spanish past. The child is a potent motif for the loss of historical memory and for its recuperation through cinema. This book is suitable for scholars and undergraduates working in the areas of Spanish cinema, Spanish cultural studies and cinema studies.

First published in 1999, this volume describes the political climate and state of trade unions after the second world war in Britain. Detailing the transition of individuals who had survived in the war or had taken part in the war effort to going back a civilian life in 1945. Following the rise of the Labour party in Britain until 1964.

This Companion brings together 32 new essays by leading historians to provide a reassessment of British history in the early twentieth century. The contributors present lucid introductions to the literature and debates on major aspects of the political, social and economic history of Britain between 1900 and 1939. Examines controversial issues over the social impact of the First World War, especially on women Provides substantial coverage of changes in Wales, Scotland and Ireland as well as in England Includes a substantial bibliography, which will be a valuable guide to secondary sources

Once the heartland of British labour history, trade unionism has been marginalised in much recent scholarship. In a critical survey from the earliest times to the nineteenth century, this book argues for its reinstatement. Trade unionism is shown to be both intrinsically important and to provide a window onto the broader historical landscape; the evolution of trade union principles and practices is traced from the seventeenth century to mid-Victorian times. Underpinning this survey is an explanation of labour organisation that reaches back to the fourteenth century. Throughout, the emphasis is on trade union mentality and ideology, rather than on institutional history. There is a critical focus on the politics of gender, on the demarcation of skill and on the role of the state in labour issues. New insight is provided on the long-debated question of trade unions’ contribution to social and political unrest from the era of the French Revolution through to Chartism.