1980s Britain: Money Changes Everything

Like no other decade, 1980s Britain was dominated by a single political figure. As the first woman to serve as a British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher vowed “to move this country in a new direction”. In doing so, she divided the nation into devoted supporters and fierce opponents, who rioted and protested in the streets. The 1980s were bold, brash and contradictory times. An age of boom and bust. Of greed, spending and charitable-giving, when hair was big and shoulder pads bigger. The decade of dandies swaggering in frills and flounces, while keep-fit fanatics lunged in Lycra and legwarmers. The action-packed decade of new technology and momentous historic events that shaped our modern world.