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An established introductory textbook that provides students with a full overview of British social policy and social ideas since the late eighteenth century. Derek Fraser´s authoritative account is the essential starting point for anyone learning about how and why Britain created the first Welfare State, and its development into the twenty-first century.
This is an ideal core text for dedicated modules on the History of British Social Policy or the British Welfare State - or a supplementary text for broader modules on Modern British History or British Political History - which may be offered at all levels of an undergraduate History, Politics or Sociology degree. In addition it is a crucial resource for students who may be studying the history of the British Welfare State for the first time as part of a taught postgraduate degree in British History, Politics or Social Policy.

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List of Tables.- Preface.- Acknowledgements.- Select Time Chart, 1801-2016.- Introduction: Perspectives on the History of Welfare.- 1. The Factory Question - 2. The Poor Law.- 3. Public Health.- 4. Education and Welfare.- 5. Laissez-faire and State Intervention in the Mid-Nineteenth Century.- 6. The Growing Awareness of Poverty.- 7. Liberal Social Policy, 1905-14.- 8. Politics and Policy, 1914-39.- 9. War and Welfare in the 1940s.- 10. The Welfare State in Modern Britain.- Conclusion.- Two Centuries of Welfare History: An Overview.- Documentary Appendix.- Notes and References.- Select Bibliography.- Index.

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Derek Fraser is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Teesside, UK, where he was formerly Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive. He was also previously Professor of British History at UCLA, USA.

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