> As for books - a couple of Verso essay collections give good
There's also this massive book just out by Dominic Sandbrook on the first half of the decade - 'State of Emergency'. It's the third book in his history of Britain since 1956, with a sequel to follow on the rest of the 1970s apparently. It got a positive review in the Economist so probably dubious, and from reviews of the earlier books he sounds like a New Labour type, but anyway - may be a good reference on the conventional wisdom. Francis Wheen reviews it fairly neutrally here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/26/state-of-emergency-dominic-sandbrook/print
Mike Beggs