1997: The Future that Never Happened

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Bloomsbury Publishing, Oct 16, 2017 - History - 385 pages
'Beautifully written, brilliantly insightful'
Owen Jones

Tony Blair and Noel Gallagher shaking hands at No. 10. Saatchi's YBAs setting the international art world aflame. Geri Halliwell in a Union Jack dress. A time of vibrancy and optimism: when the country was united by the hope of a better and brighter future. So why, twenty years on, did that future never happen?

Richard Power Sayeed takes a provocative look at this epochal year, arguing that the dark undercurrents of that time had a much more enduring legacy than the marketing gimmick of 'Cool Britannia'. He reveals how the handling of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry ushered in a new type of racism. How the feminism-lite of 'Girl Power' made sexism stronger. And how the promises of New Labour left the country more fractured than ever.

This lively, rich and evocative book explores why 1997 was a turning point for British culture and society - away from a fairer, brighter future and on the path to our current malaise.
 

Contents

You Say You Want a Revolution
1
1 New Labour New Britain
7
2 Murderers
56
3 The Peoples Princess
115
4 Girl Power
161
5 Sensationalism
209
6 Cocaine Supernova
257
7 Systemic Risks
310
Crisis
330
Notes
343
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About the author (2017)

Richard Power Sayeed is a writer and documentary maker based in London. This is his first book, and he has somehow managed to finish it without losing his love for the minutiae of nineties Britain.

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