The Sixties are often remembered as a decade of sweeping social and cultural change. But how much really changed for ordinary people? From deindustrialisation and urban redevelopment to immigration, race relations and the shifting attitudes of a younger generation, Britain in the mid-1960s was a far more complicated place than the familiar images of the Beatles and a swinging London suggest.
In this episode of the podcast, David Kynaston joins Zeb Baker-Smith, Editor of Aspects of History, to discuss Deep into the Sixties: Britain 1965–66, the latest volume in his Tales of a New Jerusalem chronicle of post-war Britain. They dissect the realities behind the decade's reputation for modernisation and liberalisation, and how contemporary diaries, newspapers and personal accounts demonstrate the gap between political and cultural change and everyday life.
David also discusses his approach to social history, the value of diaries in capturing the ‘big’ and ‘small’ moments of ordinary lives, and the economic pressures facing Harold Wilson's Labour government. The conversation concludes with England's 1966 World Cup victory, and what that day reveals about Britain and its changing mood.
Episode Links
Deep into the Sixties: Britain 1965–66
David Kynaston Links
David online
Aspects of History Links
AoH online
AoH on Twitter /X
AoH on Instagram
AoH on Substack
Zeb Links
Zeb online
Zeb on Twitter /X
Zeb on Instagram
Zeb on Substack
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