THE VERDICT OF PEACE grippingly evokes the dying embers of Britain's twentieth-century influence. Controversial and original, this is the definitive study of Britain's decline as a great industrial nation.

Between the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 and the Suez debacle of 1956, Great Britain squandered every opportunity to re-invent herself as industrial nation. While Japan and Germany progressed and evolved, Britain stagnated. The new technologies passed her by, leaving other countries to dominate market share. All this while industry stalled under prolonged industrial action and a chronic shortage of skilled workers.

Correlli Barnett examines how British leaders and public opinion became beguiled by Britain's immediate past; as a victor in The Second World War, as an imperial power and by the ideals passed down from the Victorian age.

This is a fitting conclusion to the remarkable THE PRIDE AND FALL sequence.