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The Thirties: 1930-1940 in Great Britain
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
- GenresHistory
Paperback
First published January 1, 1940
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About the author
Malcolm Muggeridge
84Ìýbooks285ÌýfollowersThomas Malcolm Muggeridge was an English journalist, author, media personality, and satirist. During World War II, he was a soldier and a spy. In the aftermath of the war, as a hugely influential London journalist, he converted to Christianity and helped bring Mother Teresa to popular attention in the West. He was also a critic of the sexual revolution and of drug use.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 13, 2015
In his usual dry-as-toast style, Malcolm Muggeridge gives us a rundown on the 1930’s in Great Britain, the usually overlooked, one could even say lost, decade squeezed between the Roaring Twenties and the Second World War.
It was a time when everyone felt they had earned peace and prosperity, especially peace. After all, they had certainly learned their lesson from the Great War. There were endless get-togethers for marathon meetings to discuss arms reductions, but oddly enough no one volunteered to go first.
Then there was the financial crisis narrowly averted by leaving the gold standard, something the average man (or woman) on the street little understood ... or cared to. And what about that silly little German (or was it Austrian?) man with the funny mustache, how could he be a threat when one couldn't even take him seriously? If only Mr. Baldwin could have handled him as well as he handled the abdication crisis. When would the (Anglican) Church get with ‘the times� and understand people couldn’t really be expected to marry for ‘life�?! And while we’re at it, let’s have some meaningful dialogue about birth control, abortion and homosexuality!
Sound familiar? The more things change, the more they stay the same. Malcolm Muggeridge's dry tongue-in-cheek wit takes no hostages. He considered himself a stranger in a strange world. A delightful commentary on the social, political, economic and various antics of the 1930s. Highly recommended!
It was a time when everyone felt they had earned peace and prosperity, especially peace. After all, they had certainly learned their lesson from the Great War. There were endless get-togethers for marathon meetings to discuss arms reductions, but oddly enough no one volunteered to go first.
Then there was the financial crisis narrowly averted by leaving the gold standard, something the average man (or woman) on the street little understood ... or cared to. And what about that silly little German (or was it Austrian?) man with the funny mustache, how could he be a threat when one couldn't even take him seriously? If only Mr. Baldwin could have handled him as well as he handled the abdication crisis. When would the (Anglican) Church get with ‘the times� and understand people couldn’t really be expected to marry for ‘life�?! And while we’re at it, let’s have some meaningful dialogue about birth control, abortion and homosexuality!
Sound familiar? The more things change, the more they stay the same. Malcolm Muggeridge's dry tongue-in-cheek wit takes no hostages. He considered himself a stranger in a strange world. A delightful commentary on the social, political, economic and various antics of the 1930s. Highly recommended!
May 3, 2015
Perhaps the master work of a master wordsmith, The Thirties is a social and political history of British life during that fateful decade. Panoramic popular histories that look at both major historical events and the fashions or fads of an era are always fun, and 1930-40 is an especially rich period, covering the Depression, Gandhi's civil disobedience campaigns, Stalin's reign (and many western admirers), the rise of Hitler, the affair of King Edward and Mrs. Simpson, Chamberlain's appeasement of Germany, and finally the outbreak of World War II.
Even a pedestrian treatment of such material would be interesting; in the hands of Malcolm Muggeridge, a veteran journalist, popular history becomes high art. Recounting the 1930s in arch, sometimes mordantly funny prose, Muggeridge provides an Olympian perspective on increasingly ominous events. What emerges in The Thirties is a kind of pitch-black comedy about a nation inevitably bumbling into disaster.
Even a pedestrian treatment of such material would be interesting; in the hands of Malcolm Muggeridge, a veteran journalist, popular history becomes high art. Recounting the 1930s in arch, sometimes mordantly funny prose, Muggeridge provides an Olympian perspective on increasingly ominous events. What emerges in The Thirties is a kind of pitch-black comedy about a nation inevitably bumbling into disaster.
March 4, 2025
The book is brilliant! Muggeridge provided the detail to my broad understanding of that pre-World War II period. From the placid years of disarmament and talks of lasting peace to the reality of war. Muggeridge exposes with intricate detail the vanity of the time - in government, in the News business, in the financial world and the entertainment sector. The Grandeur that was Great Britain was shrinking away.
It was a challenging read for me. So many names, places, customs, and current events that Muggeridge referenced that I knew not of. That required a fair amount of googling and Chat GPT. I averaged about 10 pages a day! There are 318 in the book. I'm glad I persevered. I see some parallels to our time.
It was a challenging read for me. So many names, places, customs, and current events that Muggeridge referenced that I knew not of. That required a fair amount of googling and Chat GPT. I averaged about 10 pages a day! There are 318 in the book. I'm glad I persevered. I see some parallels to our time.
July 16, 2024
An account of the 1930s seen through Muggeridge's unique perspective. He has a way of saying in one sentence what most others would need 5 or more, and even then they probably wouldn't do it half as well. His inimitable style is a treasure to savour
November 18, 2017
Name dropping view of England after one war and before the next. The Commies, Hitler, Gandhi and all that. In a true Brit style.
August 13, 2022
Cannot bear smartasses.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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