Welcome back! It's so nice to learn how your studies are progressing. Those sound like daunting books but maybe I should read them to understand what was really going on. Don't forget that you have access to quite a few of us who lived through that period on this board. Though mostly what I remember about Reagan was the fear he would take us into a nuclear war with his "Star Wars" Space Defense Initative.
My UK perspepective:
The 70s: the oil crisis, three-day week, sex discrimination act, high tax rates, inflation, strikes, Russian invasion of Afghanistan
The 80s: the nuclear thread and Greenham Common protests (against the siting of US nuclear missiles), the coal miners' strike, Falklands war, deregulation of the Stock Exchange, Glasnost (and the falling of the Berlin Wall), Chenoybl, AIDS, gay rights
The 90s: Gulf wars, Afghanistan (perhaps I was too focused on family at that time because I can't remember the big stuff). Thatcher being brought down.
For reading, my suggestion would be "The History of Modern Britain" by Andrew Marr (you could watch his tv series on
youtube to get a flavour although that covers an earlier period)