Towards a New Millennium

Towards a New Millennium Synopsis

This enthralling series of photographic histories, produced in conjunction with Getty Images, is a multi-faceted vision of Britain over the past century-and-a-half, a heritage shared by all who live within its shores. This volume covers the 1990s, at the beginning of which Margaret Thatcher resigned. John Major was the surprise victor in the leadership battle to replace her as Prime Minister.

When, against all odds, he won a fourth term for the Conservatives, it set the scene for Tony Blair's rise to the top. Temperatures soared in the warmest decade on record, which also saw rising floods and high winds. At Christmas 1992, the Queen spoke of her 'Annus Horribilis' of marital breakdown among her children and a fire at Windsor Castle.

In 1995 trader Nick Leeson brought down Barings, Britain's oldest merchant bank. Almost as staggering as the losses - more than GBP 800 million - was the fact that Leeson's activities had gone unnoticed for over three years. A different kind of history was made in the unprecedented outpouring of public grief that followed the death of Diana in 1997.