A turning point came in the mid-1970s when the actual term '[national] heritage' first became standard usage. Britain's participation in European Architectural Heritage Year in 1975 is often cited as a contributing factor. A general concern to preserve the built (and the natural) environment undoubtedly did crystallize during this period, but the particular cause of country house preservation also helped to popularize the 'heritage' label. In 1975, for example, the pressure group SAVE Britain's Heritage was founded as an off-shoot of an exhibition on The Destruction of the Country House at the Victoria and Albert Museum the previous year. It has also been suggested that public interest in the country house was significantly boosted by the publication of Mark Girouard's best-selling Life in the English Country House (1978), which replaced a traditional scholarly focus on the specialized domains of art and tecture with more accessible emphasis on social history. Growing concern for country houses helped to bring about the passing of the National Heritage Act by the Conservative government in 1980.