David Thomas Anthony Kynaston (; born 30 July 1951 in Aldershot, England) is an English historian specialising in the social history of England. He has written more than 30 books, including the first four books in his series Tales of a New Jerusalem, in which he chronicles the history of Great Britain from the end of World War II in 1945 to the ascension of Margaret Thatcher in 1979. The first book in the series–Austerity Britain–was named "Book of the Decade" in 2009 by The Sunday Times.
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Education and academic career
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. He was awarded a PhD from the London School of Economics for his 1983 thesis on the history of the London Stock Exchange. Kynaston became a visiting professor at Kingston University in 2001, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2010.
Tales of a New Jerusalem
In 2007, Kynaston published Austerity Britain, 1945–1951, to much acclaim. The book consists of two volumes–A World To Build and Smoke In the Valley–that together constitute the first in a projected series of six books entitled Tales of a New Jerusalem, chronicling the history of Great Britain from the end of World War II in 1945 to the ascension of Margaret Thatcher in 1979. Austerity Britain was named "Book of the Decade" by The Sunday Times.
Family Britain (2010) is the second book in the series, covering the period from 1951 to the Suez Crisis of 1956, and was released as a single volume containing two parts–The Certainties Of Place and A Thicker Cut. It was Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4 for the week of 23 November 2009, read by Dominic West.
The third book in the series, Modernity Britain, covering the years 1957–62, was published as two volumes–Opening The Box in June 2013 and A Shake Of The Dice in 2014.
The first volume of the fourth book, A Northern Wind, covering the years 1962–65, was published on 28 September 2023.
Publications
As of April 2026, Kynaston has authored over 30 books either alone or jointly with other authors.
King Labour: British Working Class, 1850–1914, 1976, ISBN 978-0-429-78620-4
Shots In The Dark: A Diary of Saturday Dreams and Strange Times, 1978, ISBN 978-1-5266-2302-7
The Secretary of State, 1978, ISBN 978-0-900963-80-3
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1980, ISBN 978-0-900963-97-1
Bobby Abel: Professional Batsman, 1857–1936, 1982, ISBN 978-0-436-23951-9
Archie's Last Stand: M.C.C. in New Zealand 1922–23: Being an Account of Mr. A. C. MacLaren's tour and His Last Stand, 1984, ISBN 978-0-356-10548-2
The Financial Times: a centenary history, 1988, ISBN 978-0-670-81295-0
WG's Birthday Party, 1990, ISBN 978-0-7011-3496-9
Cazenove & Co.: a history, 1991, ISBN 978-0-7134-6059-9
The City of London, Volume I: A World of Its Own, 1815–90, 1995, ISBN 978-1-4481-1229-6
The City of London, Volume II: Golden Years, 1890–1914, 1995, ISBN 978-1-4481-1230-2
LIFFE: A Market and its Makers, 1997, ISBN 978-1-85757-056-4
The City of London, Volume III: Illusions of Gold, 1914–45, 1999, ISBN 978-1-4481-1231-9