Read the following extract from Harold Macmillan, by Nigel Fisher, a Conservative MP during Macmillan's premiership, and then answer the questions which follow:
It must be remembered that the period of his Premiership was one of prosperity, during which inflation and unemployment were low and the standard of living high for a large majority of the British people. History will assess whether it was a time of real achievement or of missed opportunities, diguised by Macmillan's own inimitable style. The conclusion may be that it was a combination of the two: that genuine gains were made but that the chance to modernise the industrial structure of Britain was not fully taken.
Source: Source: N.Fisher, Harold Macmillan, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1982.
Questions
(a) Explain what you think the writer means by the phrase underlined in the extract, "Macmillan's own inimitable style".(5 marks) (b) In what ways can Macmillan's premiership be seen as "a time of real achievement"? (10 marks) (c) Do you think Macmillan's premiership was "a time of missed opportunities", and if so, what opportunities were missed? (20 marks)
