Beacon for Change by Barry Turner

Beacon for Change by Barry Turner

As the 2012 Olympics sets about re-making a whole swathe of east London, Barry Turner’ s book marks the 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain, which did the same for London’ s South Bank after the war. Where the stupendous, Pharaonic construction site of the 2012 Olympics and its £ 9 bn budget is all in aid of a few weeks of running and cycle races, 60 years ago there was a far more ambitious cultural event. Centred on London’ s South Bank, which was cleared of its industry and Victorian architecture, the Festival of Britain sought not only to celebrate the best of Britishness but also to set new standards and paradigms for modern design, aesthetics and architecture. With satellite festivals all over Britain, it attracted 8 ½ million visitors in a year (the Millennium Dome managed only 5 ½ million). The Royal Festival Hall was built, as well as the Dome of Discovery (then the largest unsupported roof in the world), and the long-lamented, Skylon (a futuristic aluminium pylon). The Scandinavian design we now take for granted with IKEA’ s furniture was a big influence in the Festival buildings’ architecture. As well as nostalgic appeal its story constitutes a kind of sequel to David Kynaston’ s Austerity Britain, as the Festival gave the British people permission to enjoy themselves and look forward at last to a future of modernity and prosperity.

‘A scintillating new history of the festival of Britain’ - Richard Morrison

‘This fascinating book chronicles the ambitious cultural event that transformed London’s South Bank’

'A sprightly and engaging history…highly informative and peppered with shrewd judgments.’

‘ A scintillating new history of the festival of Britain.’ - Richard Morrison

‘ This fascinating book chronicles the ambitious cultural event that transformed London’ s South Bank’

‘ This is an outstanding retelling of the 1951 Festival of Britain story to greet this year’ s 60th anniversary: immensely readable, never short on detail and analysis.’

‘ Beacon for Change has great nostalgic appeal for those who lived through the fast changing fifties’

'A sprightly and engaging history… highly informative and peppered with shrewd judgments.’

Barry Turner is a distinguished historian and author of many books including Outpost of Occupation, Countdown to Victory and Suez 1956. He has been a full-time writer for thirty years, and before that wrote as a teacher and journalist. He has written and produced documentaries on a variety of arts subjects and has made regular appearances on BBC current affairs programmes. After twenty years of success as editor of The Writer's Handbook, Barry Turner was appointed editor of the annual Statesman's Yearbook. He now writes for The Times and is the founder of the National Academy of Writing. Barry Turner lives in London and in south-west France.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781845135249
ISBN 10	1845135245
Title	Beacon for Change
Author	Barry Turner
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Quarto Publishing PLC
Year published	2011-04-24
Number of pages	288
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable