White Heat cover art

White Heat

A History of Britain in the Swinging Sixties

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

White Heat

By: Dominic Sandbrook
Narrated by: Dominic Sandbrook, Roger Davis
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

Harold Wilson's famous reference to 'white heat' captured the optimistic spirit of a society in the midst of breathtaking change. From the gaudy pleasures of Swinging London to the tragic bloodshed in Northern Ireland, from the intrigues of Westminster to the drama of the World Cup, British life seemed to have taken on a dramatic new momentum.

The memories, images and colourful personalities of those heady times still resonate today: mop-tops and mini-skirts, strikes and demonstrations, Carnaby Street and Kings Road, Harold Wilson and Edward Heath, Mary Quant and Jean Shrimpton, Enoch Powell and Mary Whitehouse, Marianne Faithfull and Mick Jagger.

In this wonderfully rich and compelling historical narrative, Dominic Sandbrook looks behind the myths of the Swinging Sixties to unearth the contradictions of a society caught between optimism and decline.

©2015 Dominic Sandbrook (P)2024 Hachette Audio UK 20th Century Europe Great Britain Modern Winston Churchill Royalty Socialism

Listeners also enjoyed...

 State of Emergency cover art
Seasons in the Sun cover art
The Great British Dream Factory cover art
A Northern Wind cover art
Between the Waves cover art
The Reign: Life in Elizabeth's Britain, Part I cover art
The Rage of Party cover art
The Birth of Classical Europe cover art
Britain's War cover art
1966 cover art
Churchill cover art
London in the Nineteenth Century cover art
A Certain Idea of France cover art
Test Cricket cover art
Empire of Things cover art
Kissinger cover art
All stars
Most relevant
Well researched and packed with detail. A bit heavy on the political inside baseball of the Wilson premiership, but if you're a political junkie then this is no bad thing. My favourite section was the background to The Troubles in Northern Ireland, much of which I was unfamiliar with. The narrator does a good job with all the accents.

Interesting chronicle of a seminal decade.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’ve read this book several times so was pleased to see it turned into an audiobook, especially as I’ve listened to Dominic Sandbrook’s excellent books on the 70s repeatedly.

However, I’m struggling to get past the narration. I find the style off putting and feel like I’m listening to a reading of Wind In The Willows for children.

I would have much preferred Sandbrook himself or the excellent David Thorpe.

Wonderful social history let down by narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Why does the narrator put on ridiculous accents. When, for example, reading out something John Lennon said, it’s utterly cringeworthy. Same for his Tony Benn, Harold Wilson and every other character. Ruins an otherwise good book.

Good book ruined by awful narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
very entertaining and interesting. narrator is awful, has a really jolty cadence and does very poor impressions and accents.

The way he stresses words is incredibly jarring and annoying. nearly returned the book but I think this is the only audiobook recording so the only option unfortunately

Great book, awful narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Is Dominic Sandbrook the finest writer of modern British history? I think so. I just love his books.

Very long and detailed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews