ABSTRACT
Harold Macmillan was a curiously old-fashioned, almost Disraelian, Conservative Prime Minister who combined an interest in Empire with a commitment to the welfare state. Although he is associated with the slogan ‘You’ve never had it so good’, his premiership hid the fact that Britain was declining and was not tackling the economic challenges she faced. Indeed, in the 1950s and early 1960 he helped to create an age of illusion.
