First Published in 1982, Social Conflict and the Political Order in Modern Britain offers a selection of work on British social history done by scholars working in a distinctly American context. The authors strongly feel that the way forward in social history is not some retreat into still more detailed, apolitical history, nor a move away from social analysis back towards a study of the purely political. Rather, it seems that the most fruitful path to follow is to build upon the strengths and achievements of the previous social history with a view towards theorizing its political significance while struggling to create a new kind of political history that will be more integrally social.

The book brings important themes like Britain and the social movements; strikes and the urban hierarchy in English industrial towns; British dockers during First World War; the British Labour and the Cold War; and rethinking labour history and the importance of work. This is a must read for scholars and researchers of labour history, British history, social history and history in general.