United we stand

A history of Britain's trade unions

Alistair Reid, Penguin, 496 pages, paperback, £14.99

The author traces the development of trade unions from the late 18th century and examines key events in the 19th and 20th centuries.

He argues that the growth of unions has been determined by economic development, always growing at times of economic expansion and declining during economic stagnation.

Reid laments the fact that unions, governments and employers have been unable to forge a social compromise, using as an example the industrial relations crisis during the Labour government in the 1970s.

He sees the decline of union power during the 1980s as much a result of Labour's move to the left under Michael Foot and left-wing union leaders such as Arthur Scargill, as of Margaret Thatcher's determination to break the post-war consensus.

It is a detailed account from a liberal perspective of the history of trade unionism in Britain.