Posters protests and prescriptions

<p>The National Health Service has provided Britain's healthcare since 1948. This institution has been the subject of tense political debate since its inception and has undergone a number of complex reforms and restructures. But the meanings of the NHS are not only - or even primarily - lived out in politics. Nearly every Briton comes into contact with the NHS - from cradle to grave - and this system of healthcare shapes society culture and everyday life. This book charts these multiple meanings looking at the NHS as a site of work activism and consumerism as a space and in cultural representations. Looking in these ways the book shows how and why the NHS has become a symbol of Britishness and an object of fierce protectiveness even love today.<br><br>An electronic edition of this book is freely available under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND) licence.</p>