Lloyd George

Professor Wrigley assesses the main features of Lloyd George's career from his early days as a fiery Welsh radical through the pre-First World War Liberal social reforms to his premiership (1916-1922) and after. He concludes with an assessment of the place of Lloyd George in British political history and a survey of the biographical material available. Acknowledgements.

1. Introduction.

2. The Welsh Nonconformist Politician.

3. From Old Style Radical to New Liberal.

4. From 'Pro-Boer' to 'The Man Who Won the War'.

5. A Fit World and a Fit Land to Live in?.

6. Lloyd George and the Liberal Party.

7. The Welsh Wizard.

Bibliography.

Index.

"Comes as near as anything can to consensus estimate of uniquely contentious subject."

"But for the compactness founded upon wide research, it is admirable." Literary Review

"Carrying already an enviable reputation as the leading authority on Lloyd George's complex relationship with the British labour movement, Professor Wrigley now moves throught the whole span of his subject's career, from the era of Gladstonian Liberalism to the crises of the Second World War, with assuredness and insight. A thorough command of the existing secondary literature is complemented by the skilled use of illustrative material from primary sources."

"A great strength of this slim volume is its accessibility, it can be read with profit by the under-graduate audience for whom it is designed." History

"This book is a comprehensive biographical essay which surveys all aspects of Lloyd George's career. An historical introduction is followed by five chapters which successfully combine thematic and chronological approaches to the statesman's life."

"This is a reliable, balanced and well-written book, giving a good overview of recent research."

"An excellent introductin for students." David Powell

Chris Wrigley has published books and articles on Lloyd George, Arthur Henderson and the history of the British labour movement. He serves on the councils of the Historical Association and the Economic History Society and is Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Professor Wrigley, an authority on Lloyd George's relationship with the Labour Movement, has produced a brief life of Lloyd George which draws on both the vast literature on him and on the main archival collection.
Professor Wrigley assesses the main features of Lloyd George's career beginning with his early days when he established a major reputation as a fiery Radical concerned with Welsh political and social issues in North Wales in the 1880s and 1890s. He then discusses the social reform strand in Lloyd George's career up to the First World War. A third theme is Lloyd George's attitude to Britain's foreign policy, including the waging of war in South Africa (1899-1902) and on the continent of Europe and elsewhere during the First World War (1914-1918). He considers Lloyd George's reputation as the maker of peace and the main architect of reconstruction after the First World War. The final theme is Lloyd George's search for new causes and for electoral support after his fall from the premiership in 1922.
Professor Wrigley surveys the biographical writing on Lloyd George and concludes this book with an attempt to assess this most elusive and mercurial of major British figures of this century.