History

Winston Churchill was an extraordinary figure. There has never been anyone quite like him, and inevitably legends have accumulated. How can he be treated both realistically and fairly after so much has been written about his controversial career by himself and others? This book provides a fresh look at Churchill and his role in twentieth-century history. Each of the authors in this book is an authority on at least one aspect of Churchill's life. The result is a fascinating interplay of ideas about his policies and motives. Some of it is critical and unflattering. Even the greatest of statesmen can make mistakes and misjudgements, and Churchill was at the centre of the political scene for more than half a century. Yet he emerges with both his integrity and his greatness intact. His achievement seems as remarkable as ever. The picture that is drawn by this lively and readable study is of an astonishing personality with some flaws, but also with immense strengths. The book provides a fuller understanding of how Churchill came to be, in A. J. P. Taylor's words, ‘the saviour of his nation’.

This book presents an analysis of social welfare in Britain from 1830 until the present day. The book explores the changing relationship between voluntarism and the state throughout this period, unravelling the complex interactions of government, commerce, and individuals. It examines the provision of welfare and the attitudes and beliefs surrounding it, in all its many guises, from Victorian private philanthropy and informal social networks to the collectivist ideals of the Welfare State and the convictions of Thatcherite individualism. This book is, in addition, an intellectual study of the concept of citizenship over the last two centuries, tracing developing notions of the duties and obligations implicit in the idea of the citizen, as well as the rights and entitlements.

This book investigates the ways in which ‘class culture’ characterised English society, and intruded into every aspect of life, during the period from 1918 to the mid-1950s. It demonstrates the influence of social class within the mini ‘cultures’ which together constitute society: families and family life, friends and neighbours, the workplace, schools and colleges, religion, sexuality, sport, music, film, and radio. The book considers the ways in which language was used (both spoken and written) to define one's social grouping, and how far changes occurred to language and culture more generally as a result of increasing American influence. It assesses the role of status and authority in English society, the social significance of the monarchy and the upper classes, the opportunities for social mobility, and the social and ideological foundations of English politics. The book exposes the fundamental structures and belief systems which underpinned English society in the first half of the 20th century.

Colonel Edward Saunderson, the original leader of Irish Unionism, and the most prominent defender of Irish landlords in the late 19th century, has suffered undue neglect. This book explores the political traditions of the Saunderson family as well as the development and repercussions of the Colonel’s career. The twin poles of Saunderson’s life, landownership and the Union, represent the central themes of this study. Saunderson’s Unionism was intimately bound with this status as a landed proprietor, and the party institutions and strategies which he helped to create owed much to the strengths and preoccupations of his caste. Equally, the retreat of the gentry within Irish society affected the structure and direction of the whole unionist movement. This book offers an account of an Irish landed family concentrating on its most notable member, and on the last decades of its influence.

This book is concerned with the way in which the concept of the state was invoked in British political argument between 1880 and 1914. Its central claim is that the decades bracketing the turn of the century witnessed a significant change in the prevailing terms of British political discourse — that the concept of the state, hitherto a relative stranger to British debate, emerged as a key component of the idiom in which critical reflection on politics was cast. The book surveys the ways in which the state was understood in this period, and also presents a detailed analysis of the conceptions of the state in the work of six prominent theorists: Herbert Spencer, Hugh Cecil, Bernard Bosanquet, L. T. Hobhouse, J. A. Hobson, and Ramsay MacDonald.

This book studies conscription in the years immediately following the Second World War, when for the first time Britain introduced conscription. The book examines the military reasoning behind conscription, and then shows how opposition to National Service grew in the changing economic circumstances of post-war Britain. It explores the party politics of National Service and examines how the Labour Party previously bitterly opposed to conscription, came to pass the 1947 National Service Act. The book examines how National Service was essential to the defence and foreign policies of the Attlee governments, and became one of the foundations of the post-war consensus on Britain’s security.

The Conservative Party has been the dominant force in twentieth-century British politics. On its own, or as the predominant partner in a coalition, it has held power for more than 60 years since 1900. Despite this, it has been the most neglected and misunderstood of all the main parties. This book attempts to survey the history and politics of the Conservative Party across the whole of the twentieth century, from the ‘Khaki’ election of 1900 to John Major's victory of 1992, and beyond. Traditional boundaries between history and political science have been ignored, with each of the team of contributors pursuing a theme within three main areas: the composition and structure of the Party; its ideas, policies, and actions in government; and its public image and sources of support in the country. The essays are based upon new research, in particular in the Conservative Party archives.

Crowds have long been part of the historical landscape. This book examines the changing role and character of crowds in Georgian politics through an investigation of some of the major crowd interventions in the period 1714–1821. It shows how the topsy-turvy interventions of the Jacobite era gave way to the more disciplined parades of Hanoverian England, a transition shaped by the effects of war, revolution, and the expansion of the state and the market. These changes unsettled the existing relationship between crowds and authority, raising issues of citizenship, class, and gender which fostered the emergence of a radical mass platform. On this platform, radical men (and, more ambiguously, women) staked out new demands for political power and recognition. In this study, this book shows us that Hanoverian crowds were more than dissonant voices on the margins; they were an integral part of 18th-century politics.