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The autobiography of a nation is presented for the first time in this Festival of Britain and millions of the British people will be the authors of it, displaying through every means by which Man expresses his nature how we have honoured our stewardship and used our talents. ('Festival of Britain' guide book)

If the British people were the authors of the Nation's autobiography, they were, naturally, also the chief subject. Whether exploring innovations in science, celebrating traditional craft or delighting in the scientifically planned new towns and neighbourhoods, the subject implicitly being displayed was the British. And like all autobiographies, the story that was told was selective.

The chief and governing purpose of the Festival is to declare our belief and trust in the British way of life, not with any boastful self confidence nor with any aggressive self-advertisement, but with sober and humble trust that by holding fast to that which is good and rejecting from our midst that which is evil we may continue to be a nation at unity in itself and of service to the world. (Archbishop of Canterbury, July 1950 quoted in 'The Festival of Britain 1951', the official guide to the Festival)