Never Had It So Good

A History of Britain from Suez to the Beatles

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Never Had It So Good

By: Dominic Sandbrook

Narrated by: Dominic Sandbrook, Roger Davis

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About this listen

'A rich treasure-chest of a book' ANTHONY HOWARD, Sunday Telegraph

'A spectacular history of the sixties' NICK COHEN, Observer

'Sandbrook's book is a pleasure to read ... he is a master of the human touch' RICHARD DAVENPORT-HINES, TLS

'Rivetingly readable' GODFREY SMITH, Sunday Times

From the bloodshed of the Suez Crisis to the giddy heyday of Beatlemania, from the first night of Look Back in Anger to the sensational revelations of the Profumo scandal, British life during the late 1950s and early 1960s seemed more colourful, exciting and controversial than ever. Using a vast array of sources, Dominic Sandbrook tells the story of a society caught between cultural nostalgia and economic optimism. He brings to life the post-war experience for a new generation of readers, in a critically acclaimed debut that will change for ever how we think about the sixties.©2005 Dominic Sandbrook

Dominic SandbrookDominic SandbrookRoger DavisLittle, Brown Book Group

20th Century

Europe

Great Britain

Modern

War

Imperialism

Winston Churchill

Socialism

Social justice

Africa

Capitalism

20th Century Europe Great Britain Modern War Imperialism Winston Churchill Socialism Social justice Africa Capitalism

Critic reviews

The first volume of Dominic Sandbrook's spectacular history of the Sixties is a chronicle of how the realisation of irreversible national decline hit the British after the Suez crisis... It is a tribute to Sandbrook's literary skill that his scholarship is never oppressive. Alternatively delightful and enlightening, he has produced a book which must have been an enormous labour to write but is a treat to read (Nick Cohen)

This is a rich treasure-chest of a book... Sandbrook possesses enough verve and self-confidence to have produced an outstanding example of the genre... a tour de force (Anthony Howard)

There is much to be enjoyed and admired here. Sandbrook writes lucidly and with brio... I find myself in awe of Sandbrook's apparent breadth and depth of reading, and his enthusiasm (Sam Leith)

Compelling ... a richly detailed and deeply atmospheric book (Michael Bracewell)

Brilliant... with a novelist's skill, [Sandbrook] picks his way through the unfolding drama... As a popular, very readable history, this is a massive compendium of quiet, thoughtful information, occasionally punctuated with some very funny anecdotes (Ray Connolly)

Sandbrook has a winning style - not too flashy, but always ready with a killer observation. His judgements are cool and self-assured, his wry wit ever-present but unobtrusive. Above all, he moves effortlessly from the particular to the general and back again, dazzling the reader with peculiar but telling facts, offering tart vignettes of politicians and cultural standard bearers, and demonstrating the extraordinary range of his reading. You should read this remarkable history of a much misunderstood era for both its immense sweep and the piquancy of its detail (Christopher Silvester)

A wonderful book - a most accomplished, readable and convincing tour through seven years from Suez to Beatlemania. It is refreshing because it probes beneath the surface of events, dissolving many of the myths of the sixties and suggesting, quite rightly, that this was a period of uneven and gradual change rather than a revolution

A clever and engaging study of Britain as it prepared to swing into the sixties. Never Had It So Good is very good indeed

Refreshing and full of insight. Reading this book is effortless - rather like being pulled down a meandering river in a comfortable boat on a sunny day (Gerard DeGroot)

Entertaining and always engaging, with a lovely narrative flow that carries the reader easily through its hundreds of pages (Peter Hitchens)

A masterpiece of diligence. And Sandbrook has distilled it into a sharp and fluent prose that swirls elegantly from episode to episode (Robert Winder)

Brilliantly written... a great book for the general reader, and an ideal revision text for the bright undergraduate studying all of twentieth-century British history (Arthur Marwick)

Most relevant

I really enjoy Dominic Sandbrook’s work. It is thorough, well researched, humerous and always offers fascinating insights into modern British history. This book is no different. It covers Britain from the late 1950’s through to 1963, and it provides a lot of fascinating information in an approachable and engaging style.

However, while State of Emergency and Seasons in the Sun were brilliantly narrated by David Thorpe, both White Heat and Never Had it so Good have been narrated by someone who seems to struggle.
The accents are genuinely appalling and there is little warmth or engagement. It’s so disappointing. I actually couldn’t listen to the chapter on Ireland as the accents were insultingly bad.
This is a real shame but I would suggest that, if you enjoy Dominic’s work, buy the book not the audio version.