The nature of the British Welfare State, established in the 1940s through the acceptance of the Beveridge Reporta s recommendations and assumption, has long been the subject of an inconclusive debate, even though knowledge of its history has increased as official papers have become open to access under the thirty year rule. What aims, interests and forces shaped its development before and after the Beveridge Reporta s appearance, from the Liberal innovations in social policy before 1914 to the collapse of full employment in the 1970s? This book examines the answers to such questions provided by recent historical research and discussion, offering a critical and comprehensive study of the modernization of social policy in Britain.