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Penguin Books and Political Change : Britain's Meritocratic Moment, 1937–1988

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Title: Penguin Books and Political Change : Britain's Meritocratic Moment, 1937–1988
Description: Founded in 1935 by a young publisher disillusioned with the class prejudices of the interwar publishing trade, Penguin Books set out to make good books available to all. The ‘Penguin Specials', a series of current affairs books authored by leading intellectuals and politicians, embodied its democratising mission. Published over fifty years and often selling in vast quantities, these inexpensive paperbacks helped to shape popular ideas about subjects as varied as the welfare state, homelessness, social class and environmental decay. Using the ‘Specials'as a lens through which to view Britain's changing political landscape, Dean Blackburn tells a story about the ideas that shaped post-war Britain. Between the late-1930s and the mid-1980s, Blackburn argues, Britain witnessed the emergence and eclipse of a ‘meritocratic moment', at the core of which was the belief that a strong relationship between merit and reward would bring about social stability and economic efficiency. Equal opportunity and professional expertise, values embodied by the egalitarian aspirations of Penguin's publishing ethos, would be the drivers of social and economic progress. But as the social and economic crises of the 1970s took root, many contemporary thinkers and politicians cast doubt on the assumptions that informed meritocratic logic. Britain's meritocratic moment had passed.
Authors: Dean Blackburn
Resource Type: eBook.
Subjects: World War, 1939-1945--Social aspects--Great Britain, Publishers and publishing--History--20th century, Publishers and publishing--Political aspects
Categories: HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / General, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Publishers & Publishing Industry, POLITICAL SCIENCE / General
Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
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Header DbId: nlebk
DbLabel: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
An: 4074588
RelevancyScore: 1097
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: eBook
PubTypeId: ebook
PreciseRelevancyScore: 1096.64697265625
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  Data: Penguin Books and Political Change : Britain's Meritocratic Moment, 1937–1988
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  Label: Description
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  Data: Founded in 1935 by a young publisher disillusioned with the class prejudices of the interwar publishing trade, Penguin Books set out to make good books available to all. The ‘Penguin Specials', a series of current affairs books authored by leading intellectuals and politicians, embodied its democratising mission. Published over fifty years and often selling in vast quantities, these inexpensive paperbacks helped to shape popular ideas about subjects as varied as the welfare state, homelessness, social class and environmental decay. Using the ‘Specials'as a lens through which to view Britain's changing political landscape, Dean Blackburn tells a story about the ideas that shaped post-war Britain. Between the late-1930s and the mid-1980s, Blackburn argues, Britain witnessed the emergence and eclipse of a ‘meritocratic moment', at the core of which was the belief that a strong relationship between merit and reward would bring about social stability and economic efficiency. Equal opportunity and professional expertise, values embodied by the egalitarian aspirations of Penguin's publishing ethos, would be the drivers of social and economic progress. But as the social and economic crises of the 1970s took root, many contemporary thinkers and politicians cast doubt on the assumptions that informed meritocratic logic. Britain's meritocratic moment had passed.
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Classifications:
      – Code: 070.50922
        Scheme: ddc
        Type: prePub
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: World War, 1939-1945--Social aspects--Great Britain
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Publishers and publishing--History--20th century
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Publishers and publishing--Political aspects
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Penguin Books and Political Change : Britain's Meritocratic Moment, 1937–1988
        Type: main
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      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Dean Blackburn
      – PersonEntity:
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            NameFull: Dean Blackburn
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2020
            – D: 29
              M: 07
              Type: profile
              Y: 2025
          Identifiers:
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9781526129284
            – Type: isbn-electronic
              Value: 9781526129277
            – Type: isbn-electronic
              Value: 9781526129291
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Penguin Books and Political Change : Britain's Meritocratic Moment, 1937–1988
              Type: main
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