Böcker av Polly Toynbee

Two acclaimed journalists examine the state of the country in light of this year's election.

'Fascinating' Spectator'Entertaining' Sunday Times'Enthralling' Guardian'Beautiful, funny and moving' Daily Mail'Compelling and moving' Observer'Replete with vivid - often hilarious, often shocking - anecdotes' Financial TimesWhile for generations Polly Toynbee's ancestors have been committed left-wing rabble-rousers railing against injustice, they could never claim to be working class, settling instead for the prosperous life of academia or journalism enjoyed by their own forebears. So where does that leave their ideals of class equality?Through a colourful, entertaining examination of her own family - which in addition to her writer father Philip and her historian grandfather Arnold contains everyone from the Glenconners to Jessica Mitford to Bertrand Russell, and features ancestral home Castle Howard as a backdrop - Toynbee explores the myth of mobility, the guilt of privilege, and asks for a truly honest conversation about class in Britain.

One of the most respected, prolific and razor-sharp voices in social commentary uses the prism of her extraordinary family to examine the true state of class in Britain.

What is the state? And what's it ever done for you? In this book, the author travels around Great Britain gathering the voices of the people who make up the state: nurses and patients, teachers and parents, policemen and civilians. It lays bare the deliberate dismantling of the public sector and its consequences.

What have they really achieved? Did Iraq overshadow all? Did public services improve after all? Were the targets reached, the promises met? This book presents an analysis of the Labour Party's performance.

Living on an estate in Clapham, Polly Toynbee started from scratch and found that if she were truly unemployed, she would not even be able to afford a new job, and that faced with starvation, it's impossible not to sink into debt. This book provides an account of her courageous intention to live and work on the minimum wage.