1976

A kaleidoscopic social history of the year that shaped the modern world

Searing heat, political turmoil, revolution in popular culture: relive the scorching year of 1976 in all its glory.

On the political scene, Harold Wilson abruptly resigned as prime minister; Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe resigned in advance of his arrest and sensational Old Bailey trial for conspiracy and incitement to murder; and the Tories elected 'Milk Snatcher' Margaret Thatcher as their party leader. The IRA’s long-running demands for the reunification of Ireland exploded into a campaign of wholesale terrorism on the British mainland.

Meanwhile, the Black Panther was finally arrested and brought to justice, and the curious case of John Stonehouse, the UK’s last Postmaster General, came to its climax.

Throw in the fact that Southampton defied 500:1 odds to win the FA Cup, and the irresistible rise of punk rock, triggered by the iconic moment when the Sex Pistols were let loose on an unsuspecting teatime-television audience, and 1976 proves itself a truly pendulum year that divides the old from the new - recaptured here in fully living, human detail.

Inside 1976:

• Season-by-season account of the events of this bumper year
• Stories from across the UK, USA, Europe and the Soviet Union
• Political rivalries in a Cold War era, including the early rise of Margaret Thatcher and the demise of Harold Wilson
• Celebrities of the era, including David Bowie, Sid James and the Sex Pistols, ABBA and the Bee Gees
• Massive breakthroughs in criminal justice, such as the arrest of the Black Panther, and the conclusion of the case of postmaster general John Stonehouse

Leaving no stone unturned and no story untold, 1976 is a book of pure nostalgia for those who lived through it, and an eyeopening experience for those who didn't: a page turner right to the end.