The author provides a provocative analysis of the direction which British society has taken this century. He points to changes involving class and status, social and geographical mobility, standards of living and the family, and explains how these changes have been affected by patterns of economic growth, liberal and Marxist theories, and the power of the state. This revised edition covers Margaret Thatcher's period as Prime Minister, and its aftermath in the premiership of John Major. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the whole system created by World War II has ended. Professor Halsey considers the implications of these events, and asks what their effects have been on liberty, equality, social cohesion and conflict.