Cover 9781785901713

The war on the old has been declared.

In the post-Brexit world, intergenerational conflict has become a visible phenomenon. There is an overwhelming sense of blame from younger generations: it was ‘the wrinklies’, the grey-haired plutocracy, who voted Leave; who are overburdening hospitals, shutting the youth out of the housing market and hoarding accumulated wealth.

By 2020, we are told, one in five Britons will be pensioners, and living a longer retirement than ever before. ‘A good thing’, politicians add, through gritted teeth. The truth is that for them, ‘the old’ are a social, economic and political inconvenience.

John Sutherland (age 78, and feeling keenly what he writes about) examines this intergenerational combat as a new kind of war in which institutional neglect and universal indifference to the old has reached aggressive, and routinely lethal, levels. This is a book which sets out to provoke but in the process tells some deep and inconvenient truths, revealing something British society would rather not think about.

PROVOCATIONS is a groundbreaking new series of short polemics composed by some of the most intriguing voices in contemporary culture and edited by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. Sharp, intelligent and controversial, Provocations provides insightful contributions to the most vital discussions in society today.


Reviews

“An ambitious new series that tackles the controversy of the topics explored with a mixture of intelligence and forthright argument from some excellent writers.”

The Observer

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  • Hardback, 160 pages
  • ISBN: 9781785901713
  • 24 November 2016
  • £10.00

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  • ISBN: 9781785902000
  • 24 November 2016
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