Tonic to the Nation tells the story of the English classical music and opera composed and revived for the Festival of Britain, and explores how these long-overlooked components of the Festival helped define English music in the post-war period. "This book will be of great interest to musical, social and political historians as they seek to better understand the cultural implications of post-Second World War Britain, and the attempts made to mould an artistic response to the both the optimism and the hardships following the end of hostilities." - John France, MusicWeb International "...impressively-researched, compelling and highly useful addition to the literature about the Festival of Britain." - Nicholas Clark, Britten-Pears Foundation in EuropeNow, September 2017