Book Club

What’s Profile CEO Mark Norris been reading lately?

A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr

A refreshingly pleasant and enjoyable run through the milestones in British history since the Second World War. The book has been re-issued following a complaint earlier in the year; it’s now back on the shelves and Marr’s book accompanying his 2007 BBC series of the same name remains engaging and informative. It’s popular history in a popular, friendly tone, with facts that are both accessible and thought-provoking. What was the impact of the changes of government on the national psyche and vice-versa? How did the evolution in modern technology and communications, to take one example, lead to new paradigms, in business, education and society and culture in general? Marr serves big answers to big questions – his interest in modern politics looms very large – and somehow makes it all sound quite simple.

Marr has been compared to the history teacher you wish you’d had. For those of us interested in an intelligent but unpedantic glimpse into how our Anglo-Saxon world has come to this, these 600 words are worth it.

A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr (2007). Available on Amazon.co.uk