yesterday-cover.jpg
yesterday-cover.jpg

Yesterday by Brian Harrison

from $18.00
Hardcover:

Britain transformed itself twice in a single generation—once under Margaret Thatcher's revolution, and again through Brexit, a pandemic, and the slow unraveling of old certainties. Yesterday is the definitive reckoning with the three decades that made the country we know today.

Pratinav Anil of The Times calls Harrison "superb on the texture of social change," while historian Peter Stansky hails it as "a rich account and deep analysis of Britain from 1990 to 2020."

Between 1990 and 2020, Britain lived through profound upheaval even as its political culture clung to continuity and gradual change. In Yesterday, esteemed Oxford historian Brian Harrison traces this tension across three transformative decades.

The book examines Thatcher's enduring legacy, the rise and fall of New Labour, and the seismic shock of Brexit, alongside the strains placed on the monarchy and the union itself. Harrison doesn't shy away from failure, chronicling military setbacks, economic decline, and the persistent threat of terrorism.

Yet this is also a story of quiet successes—expanding participatory governance, rising employment, growing environmental awareness, and a wave of technological and cultural innovation. Family life, generational relationships, and the media all changed almost beyond recognition.

As religious observance waned among the native population, immigrant communities brought fresh spiritual energy to the nation's life. Harrison shows a Britain gradually shedding its insularity to confront an uncertain future.

Drawing on decades of scholarship as general editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Harrison delivers what fellow historian Bruce Kinzer calls "the capstone work of a great historian." Yesterday is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand modern Britain.

Britain transformed itself twice in a single generation—once under Margaret Thatcher's revolution, and again through Brexit, a pandemic, and the slow unraveling of old certainties. Yesterday is the definitive reckoning with the three decades that made the country we know today.

Pratinav Anil of The Times calls Harrison "superb on the texture of social change," while historian Peter Stansky hails it as "a rich account and deep analysis of Britain from 1990 to 2020."

Between 1990 and 2020, Britain lived through profound upheaval even as its political culture clung to continuity and gradual change. In Yesterday, esteemed Oxford historian Brian Harrison traces this tension across three transformative decades.

The book examines Thatcher's enduring legacy, the rise and fall of New Labour, and the seismic shock of Brexit, alongside the strains placed on the monarchy and the union itself. Harrison doesn't shy away from failure, chronicling military setbacks, economic decline, and the persistent threat of terrorism.

Yet this is also a story of quiet successes—expanding participatory governance, rising employment, growing environmental awareness, and a wave of technological and cultural innovation. Family life, generational relationships, and the media all changed almost beyond recognition.

As religious observance waned among the native population, immigrant communities brought fresh spiritual energy to the nation's life. Harrison shows a Britain gradually shedding its insularity to confront an uncertain future.

Drawing on decades of scholarship as general editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Harrison delivers what fellow historian Bruce Kinzer calls "the capstone work of a great historian." Yesterday is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand modern Britain.

  • Publisher: Princeton University Press

    Title: Yesterday

    Author: Brian Harrison

    On Sale Date: May 12, 2026

    ISBN 13: 9780691269870

    ISBN 10: 0691269874

    Format: Hardcover

    Retail Price: $45.00

    BISAC: History / Europe / Great Britain

    Page Count: 896

    Dimensions: 9.25 in H | 6.13 in W

  • Brian Harrison is emeritus professor of modern history at Oxford University and emeritus fellow of Corpus Christi College. His previous books include Seeking a Role: The United Kingdom, 1951–1970 and Finding a Role? The United Kingdom, 1970–1990, and he served as general editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography from 2000 to 2004.

  • Readers are calling it sweeping, rigorous, and illuminating:

    • Reviewers praise Harrison's clear-eyed treatment of Thatcher's legacy and its lasting grip on British politics.

    • Early readers highlight the book's balance of hard truths—economic decline, terrorism—with genuine successes in governance and culture.

    • Historians single out Harrison's authority, built on decades of scholarship as former general editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

    • Multiple reviewers note the book's timeliness, arriving as Britain continues to grapple with the aftershocks of Brexit and the pandemic.

This book is for you if

  • You want to understand how Britain became the country it is today.

  • You're fascinated by the Thatcher era, Brexit, or modern British politics.

  • You appreciate rigorous, deeply researched history written with clarity and wit.

  • You're drawn to stories of institutions under pressure—the monarchy, the union, the press.

  • You're looking for the definitive account of the last three decades of British life.

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