White Heat cover art

White Heat

A History of Britain in the Swinging Sixties

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White Heat

By: Dominic Sandbrook
Narrated by: Dominic Sandbrook, Roger Davis
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About this listen

Harold Wilson's famous reference to 'white heat' captured the optimistic spirit of a society in the midst of breathtaking change. From the gaudy pleasures of Swinging London to the tragic bloodshed in Northern Ireland, from the intrigues of Westminster to the drama of the World Cup, British life seemed to have taken on a dramatic new momentum.

The memories, images and colourful personalities of those heady times still resonate today: mop-tops and mini-skirts, strikes and demonstrations, Carnaby Street and Kings Road, Harold Wilson and Edward Heath, Mary Quant and Jean Shrimpton, Enoch Powell and Mary Whitehouse, Marianne Faithfull and Mick Jagger.

In this wonderfully rich and compelling historical narrative, Dominic Sandbrook looks behind the myths of the Swinging Sixties to unearth the contradictions of a society caught between optimism and decline.

©2015 Dominic Sandbrook (P)2024 Hachette Audio UK 20th Century Europe Great Britain Modern Winston Churchill Royalty Socialism

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All stars
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Superbly researched and interesting,made more enjoyable by great narration. Funny, touching and educational. Highly recommended.

History made interesting

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Well researched and packed with detail. A bit heavy on the political inside baseball of the Wilson premiership, but if you're a political junkie then this is no bad thing. My favourite section was the background to The Troubles in Northern Ireland, much of which I was unfamiliar with. The narrator does a good job with all the accents.

Interesting chronicle of a seminal decade.

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very entertaining and interesting. narrator is awful, has a really jolty cadence and does very poor impressions and accents.

The way he stresses words is incredibly jarring and annoying. nearly returned the book but I think this is the only audiobook recording so the only option unfortunately

Great book, awful narrator

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To be perfectly honest this has been sitting in my library for quite a while since I noticed that I had rashly purchased an audiobook which was over 39 hours long. Well eventually having nothing else of note to digest I decided to give it a go and thanks to the languid delivery of the narrator I could speed it up to 1.7 X without him sounding too ridiculous. The running time was cut down to an almost reasonable length and off I went. Happily it was a thoroughly enjoyable listen. As someone born at the end of 1959 who watched endless TV in the 60s and soaked it all up the familiar names kept coming throughout the book. As a kid I clearly had no idea of the political shambles that was going on around me although hailing from Merseyside I was very much submerged in the Beatles phenomenon. I particularly savoured all the pop culture coverage in the book and thought using Dad’s Army in the epilogue was inspired. I have a lot of time for Dominic Sandbrook which is just as well. Highly recommended if you have the stamina and walk the dog a lot.

A Fascinating and Very Easy Listen

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I really enjoy Dominic Sandbrook’s work. It is thorough, well researched, humerous and always offers fascinating insights into modern British history. This book is no different. However, while State of Emergency and Seasons in the Sun were brilliantly narrated by David Thorpe, both White Heat and Never Had it so Good have been narrated by someone who seems to struggle.
The accents are genuinely appalling and there is little warmth or engagement. It’s so disappointing. I actually couldn’t listen to the chapter on Ireland as the accents were insultingly bad.
This is a real shame but I would suggest that, if you enjoy Dominic’s work, buy the book not the audio version.

Excellent book ruined by terrible narration

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I’ve read this book several times so was pleased to see it turned into an audiobook, especially as I’ve listened to Dominic Sandbrook’s excellent books on the 70s repeatedly.

However, I’m struggling to get past the narration. I find the style off putting and feel like I’m listening to a reading of Wind In The Willows for children.

I would have much preferred Sandbrook himself or the excellent David Thorpe.

Wonderful social history let down by narration

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The period captured in fascinating detail, from government to the Rolling Stones — none of which is left unturned.

Incredibly Comprehensive

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a genuinely riveting, personable and original interpretation of Britain in the 60s. A must read for anyone interested in the period.

riveting and original

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Intending to catch up on the history of Britain since I was born in late 1955, this is the second Dominic Sandbrook book I have listened to.
In White Heat I thoroughly enjoyed the history ,but felt there was far too much about the beatles, the tenuous links being made more aggravating by the terrible Liverpudlian accents impersonating them.

Too much about the beatles.

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I adore Dominic Sandbrook's books, but what a shame this isn't read by him - the narration is stilted, jarring, awkward and really not a great listen at all. Stick to the print edition!

Fantastic Book, Dodgy Narration

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