Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Section 1: Introducing the Festival
1. The Background: history and historiography
2. The Festival’s People and Purposes
Section 2: Time
3. The Festival’s representations of the future
4. The Festival’s representations of the past
Section 3: Place
5. London-based representations of the metropole and the ‘regions’
6. The role of ‘the local’ in the Festival
7. The place that was almost absent: the British Empire
8. The place of escape and edification: the Battersea Pleasure Gardens
Section 4: Conclusion
9. Conclusion: The Festival and its legacy
Select Bibliography
Appendices
Index

About the Author

Becky E. Conekin is a Research Fellow and Lecturer at the London College of Fashion, The London Institute

Reviews

"The autobiography of a nation assembles an impressive array of evidence and argument for judging this fascinating moment in British postwar cultural history. Uniting the best of history and cultural studies, Becky Conekin contributes an essential building block for the gradually accumulating historiography of the postwar era." -- Geoff Eley, University of Michigan
"This book makes a significant contribution to the design and social history of postwar Britain." -- Simon Gunn, University of Leeds