Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In the 1960s, “Swinging London” becomes a center for rock music, film, theater,
youth culture, and Austin Powers-style joie de vivre. The 1970s bring massive unemploy-
ment and a conservative reaction in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Timeline
1914-1918
World War I. Britain, France, and other allies battle Germany from
trenches dug in the open fields of France and Belgium. A million British
men die.
1920s-1930s
A flourishing of literary talent hits London, including T. S. Eliot
(American-turned-British), Virginia Woolf, and Dylan Thomas.
1936
King Edward VIII abdicates to marry an American commoner, Wallis
Simpson. He is succeeded by his brother, George VI (“Bertie” of
The
King's Speech
fame).
1939-1945
World War II.