During the mere fifty years from the disintegration of the Liberal Party in 1915 to the election of Harold Wilson's Labour government in 1964, Britain survived two world wars, countless conflicts, the General Strike, Suez, and many other dramatic social and political changes. What did not survive these tumultous years, however, was Britain's longstanding status as a major imperial power. Here, leading historian Robert Blake skillfully charts the sorry decline of the sea-based British Empire and the mighty ascendance of two great land-based world powers: the United States and the Soviet Union. Blake brings his customary wit and scholarly wisdom to this complex period, offering a delightfully fresh interpretation of familiar people and politics that are vital to our understanding of the history and events of our century.