In a series of case-studies, ranging widely from documentary film and the writings of J.B. Priestley to postwar historiography and Remains of the Day, this book explores the ever-changing and hotly contested narratives of Britain in the 1930s. The authors argue that images of 'the Thirties' have been a continual presence in the construction of the wartime and postwar world, and in particular in the emergent discourse of social democracy and its subsequent decline.