EYEWITNESS 1970-1979

This is another installment in the effective British oral histories created by historian Joanna Bourke and narrator Tim Pigott-Smith. Disparate events of the 1970s such as the Women's Movement, oil shocks, and the introduction of the decimal system (accompanied by the jingle "one hundred pennies to the pound") are effectively held together by the sincerity and continuity of Pigott-Smith. BBC Radio clips give life and ambiance to the history lesson. The "troubles" in Northern Ireland feature prominently; the decade finishes with no resolution. The program fittingly ends with the election of Margaret Thatcher, helped to victory by widespread strikes during which the rubbish wasn't picked up, the dead weren't buried, and no one could read THE TIMES. A.B. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 06/ JAN 07]