From Liberal Social Reforms to the Welfare State

Why did the British get pensions when they did? What part did the great social surveys (Booth and Rowntree) play? Was there something rotten at the heart of Empire? What part did fears of a Red Peril play? Was Britain slow, with Bismarck and even the Tsar providing some measures of welfare? What were the motives of those behind the measures? What were the shortcomings of the 1906-11 reforms and what made the post 1945 measures so much more, delivering ‘a welfare state'? 

The People's Pensions: From Liberal Social Reforms to the Welfare State by Professor Chris Wrigley