This is a revised & updated new edition of a classic text which offers a broad ranging & authoritative history of British social policy from the Industrial Revolution to the present day. This is the best historical introduction to the past & present of the Welfare State widely regarded as a classic in the field. It is now updated to cover the Blair & Brown years & revised to take into account the latest research. This book features an extensive bibliography with over 100 new entries for the fourth edition. Derek Frasers book has established itself as a classic text on the history of social policy & social ideas in Britain since the Industrial Revolution. This fourth edition features a revised introduction incorporates the latest research & extends the coverage of the final chapter bringing the story right up to the present day.