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Democratic Socialism and Economic Policy: The Attlee Years, 1945-1951 Jim TOMLINSON, 1997 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press pp. xiv+ 331, C45.00 It is more than 50 years since Clement Attlee became Prime Minister, but the first British Labour government to have a parliamentary majority remains a topic of perennial fascination. If anything, this interest is likely to increase still further as scholars look at the first majority "old" labour government in the light of the election in 1997 of the first so-called "new" Labour administration. Despite the high level of attention devoted to the Attlee governments, Jim Tomlinson-a prolific scholar on all aspects of British political and economic history-has produced an excellent addition to the existing literature with this book.
Tomlinson's central concern is to study the economic policies of the Attlee governments in the light of the constraints which those administrations faced. As the author rightly points out, too many scholars and critics have simply criticized them for their timidity and failure to introduce "socialism," without really acknowledging the immensely powerful constraints that existed. The book begins with a lively and interesting account of the development of...