Geoffrey Evans and Pippa Norris (eds): Critical Elections. British Parties and Voters in Long‐Term Perspective. Sage: London, 1999. 310+xi pp, 38 figures, 107 tables, biblio, index, £55.00 (cloth); £18.99 (paper). ISBN 0‐7619‐6019‐8 and 0‐7619‐6020‐1.
Abstract
strati¢cation of modern capitalist economies. However, it should be stressed once more that although conceptually it is a very interesting book, its occasional weaknesses in the interpretation of the empirical analysis require caution from the reader. Natalia Letki Nu¤eld College, Oxford, UK Geo¡rey Evans and Pippa Norris (eds): Critical Elections. British Parties and V in Long-Term Perspective oters Sage: London,1999. 310+xi pp, 38 ¢gures,107 tables, biblio, index, »55.00 (cloth); »18.99 (paper). ISBN 0-7619-6019-8 and 0-7619-6020-1. In the 1992 British General Election the Labour Party obtained 41 per cent of UK seats; in the 1997 election they obtained no less than 64 per cent. This sweeping victory led many commentators to believe that the 1997 election produced a decisive break with the past. Critical Elections, edited by Evans and Norris, thoroughly examines to what extent the 1997 British Election was exceptional in producing abrupt, signi¢cant and durable realignments in the electorate. The strength of the book is that it places the 1997 election in the context of long-term electoral trends. This is done by a technically advanced analysis of the British Election Surveys since 1964. In addition, the book provides an overview of British electoral history as a context