David Thomas Anthony Kynaston (/ˈkɪnəstən/; born 30 July 1951[1] in Aldershot) is an English historian specialising in the social history of England.

[2] Kynaston was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire and New College, Oxford, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in modern history in 1973,[1] and was awarded a PhD from the London School of Economics on the history of the London Stock Exchange in 1983.

[5] The title consists of two books that together make the first volume in a projected series of six entitled Tales of a New Jerusalem.

In this series Kynaston intends to chronicle the history of Great Britain from the end of World War II to the ascension of Margaret Thatcher in 1979.

[8] The volume was serialised on BBC Radio 4 as its Book of the Week for 23 November 2009, read by Dominic West.