Abstract
The Wilson government’s revision of the closed period for public records led the Treasury, like other Whitehall departments, to prepare for the earlier opening up of its archives in accordance with the 1967 Public Records Act. More importantly, the proposed introduction of the peacetime official histories series, in conjunction with the forthcoming start of work by the new interdepartmental Committee on Official Histories of Peacetime Events, prompted an urgent re-think of existing lines of policy in the light of what had been achieved already.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Acts of God, p. 4, T236/5982. See Hilda Grieve, The Great Tide: The Story of the 1953 Flood Disaster in Essex (Chelmsford: Essex County Council, 1959).
Becky E. Conekin, ‘The Autobiography of a Nation’: The 1951 Festival of Britain (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003), pp. 203–31. Conekin used public records, but not Treasury files.
Douglas Wass, Government and the Governed: BBC Reith Lectures 1983 (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983), pp. 88–9; Hennessy, ‘A crack appears’.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2006 Peter J. Beck
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Beck, P.J. (2006). The Treasury Becomes ‘Very Historically Minded’, 1957–60. In: Using History, Making British Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230501287_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230501287_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-52409-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-50128-7
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)