‘… original and compelling.’
Will Hutton
Source: The Observer
'… (a) wonderfully readable and historically informed account.'
Michael Marmot
Source: The Lancet
‘A critically important assessment of the current state of governance of healthcare and the economy in the UK - uniquely placed in historical context. The disastrous mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic provides an ideal launch-pad for this critique, which also demonstrates a clear path to a better future. It should be in the hands of everyone in the country who cares about and has responsibility for our future.’
Sir David King - former UK Chief Scientific Adviser and Climate Envoy, Chair of Independent SAGE
‘What lessons does the past hold for shaping a better post-pandemic future? This book, with its powerful account of the intolerable inequalities of the present, argues for a revival of the moral foundations of the successful social contracts of earlier periods of British history.’
Diane Coyle - author of Markets, State and People: Economics for Public Policy
‘It is quite a feat to trace the vagaries of English social history from the Elizabethan Poor Law, through mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, to the seven pillars of what a good society should look like. But these wonderfully accessible authors have done it. Bravo.’
Sir Michael Marmot - author of Build Back Fairer: The COVID-19 Marmot Review
‘Impressive analysis of how 40 years of neoliberalism severely increased inequalities and the impact of the pandemic, and how a secure, mutually supportive society with a strong economy can be restored. Let’s hope our government finds it inspiring and acts accordingly.’
Pat Thane - author of Divided Kingdom. A History of Britain, 1900 to the Present
