'Warfare State' challenges the central theme of the existing histories of 20th century Britain, that the British state was a welfare state. It argues that it was also a warfare state, which supported a powerful armaments industry. The book is a substantial reinterpretation of the British state in the 20th century.

The military-industrial complex in the interwar years -- The warfare state and the nationalisation of Britain, 1939-55 -- The expert state: the military-scientific complex in the interwar years -- The new men and the new state, 1939-70 -- Anti-historians and technocrats: revisiting the post-war technocratic moment, 1959-64 -- The warfare state and the white heat, 1955-70 -- The disappearance of the British warfare state -- Rethinking the relations of science, technology, industry and war.