• List of Tables; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction: Labour and the economy 1900–45; 2. Labour and the international economy I: Overall strategy; 3. Labour and the international economy II: The balance of payments; 4. Industrial modernisation; 5. Nationalisation; 6. Controls and planning; 7. The financial system; 8. Employment policy and the labour market; 9. Labour and the woman worker; 10. Towards a Keynesian policy; 11. The economics of the welfare state; 12. Equality versus efficiency?; 13. Conclusions: political obstacles to economic reform.

"The book has a compelling thesis and much detailed empirical work to support it. What makes it a particularly significant contribution is the fact that Tomlinson is so at home in all aspects of the subject matter. He is excellent....One gets the sense of someone who really understands the nature of the Labour party and the broader labor movement....This book, in short, is a compelling and important addition to the literature, and one which will be read with profit by all students and scholars of modern British political, economic, and social history." Andrew Thorpe, Labor History