A history of British Prime Ministers : Walpole to Cameron
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
A history of British Prime Ministers : Walpole to Cameron
Palgrave Macmillan, 2014
Omnibus ed.
- : hbk
Available at 1 libraries
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Fifty-two men and one woman have held the post of Prime Minister during the past three centuries - from Sir Robert Walpole to David Cameron. In this omnibus edition, which includes Eighteenth-Century British Premiers, Nineteenth-Century British Premiers, A Century of Premiers, plus new and updated chapters on Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron, Dick Leonard recounts the circumstances which took them to the top of the 'greasy pole', probes their political and personal strengths and weaknesses, assesses their performance in office and asks what lasting influence they have had. The author also recounts fascinating and often littleknown facts about the private lives of each of the Prime Ministers, for example who was suspected of being the illegitimate half-brother of George III, who was assassinated in the House of Commons, who spent his evenings prowling the streets of London, trying to 'reform' prostitutes, which two premiers, one Tory one Labour, were taught by the same governess as a child, and who was described by his own son as 'probably the greatest natural Don Juan in the history of British politics'?
Table of Contents
Introduction The Road to the Prime Ministership PART I: THE 18TH CENTURY 1. Robert Walpole, first Earl of Orford 'all these men have their price' 2. Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington 'George II's favourite nonentity' 3. Henry Pelham Pragmatic Heir to Walpole 4. Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle Mighty Panjamdrum, Feeble Premier 5. William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire 'I have no motive but the King's service' 6. John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute the King's 'dearest friend' 7. George Grenville Able Premier, Undermined by his Own Prolixity 8. Charles Wentworth-Watson, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham the Conscience of the Whigs 9. William Pitt, the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham 'I am sure that I can save this country, and that nobody else can' 10. Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton Well-intentioned Dilettante 11. Frederick North, Styled Lord North Outstanding Parliamentarian, Pity about the Colonies... 12. William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne Intellectual in Politics 13. William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland Twice a Figurehead 14 . William Pitt, the Younger Peacetime Prodigy, Less Successful in War PART II: THE 19TH CENTURY 15. Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth - Better than his Reputation? 16. William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville - Not Quite 'All the Talents' 17. Spencer Perceval - Struck Down in his Prime 18. Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool - Keeping the Show on the Road 19. George Canning - In the Footsteps of Pitt 20. Frederick John Robinson, Viscount Goderich, 1st Earl of Ripon - Inadequate Stopgap 21. Arthur Wesley (Wellesley), 1st Duke of Wellington - Military Hero, Political Misfit? 22. Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey - In the Footsteps of Fox 23. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne - Mentor to a Young Monarch 24. Sir Robert Peel - Arch Pragmatist or Tory Traitor? 25. Lord John Russell, 1st Earl Russell - From Whig to Liberal 26. Edward Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby - 'The Brilliant Chief, Irregularly Great' 27. George Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen - Failure or Scapegoat? 28. Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston - Master Diplomat or Playground Bully? 29. Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield - Climbing 'the Greasy Pole' 30. William Ewart Gladstone - From 'Stern Unbending Tory' to 'The People's William' 31. Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury - Skilful Opponent of Reform 32. Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery - Seeking 'the Palm without the Dust' PART III: THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES 33. Arthur James Balfour - Bob's your Uncle 34. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman - 'A Good, Honest Scotchman' 35. Henry Herbert Asquith - Not Quite in the Gladstone Mould 36. David Lloyd George, - 'A Dynamic Force' 37. Andrew Bonar Law - Tory Puritan 38. Stanley Baldwin- 'A Man of the Most Utter Insignificance'? 39. James Ramsay MacDonald - An 'Aristocrat among Plain Men'? 40. Neville Chamberlain - A Family Affair 41. Winston Churchill - His Finest Hour 42. Clement Attlee - Quiet Revolutionary 43. Sir Anthony Eden - Self-Destruction of a Prince Charming 44. Harold Macmillan - Idealist into Manipulator 45. Sir Alec Douglas-Home - Right Man, Wrong Century? 46. Harold Wilson - Master - or Victim - of the Short Term 47. Edward Heath - Cheerleader for Europe 48. James Callaghan - Labour's Conservative 49. Margaret Thatcher - Grocer's Daughter to Iron Lady 50. John Major - 'Thatcherism with a Human Face' 51. Tony Blair - Fallen Idol 52. Gordon Brown - Dominant Chancellor, Uncertain Premier 53. David Cameron - 'Blair's Heir'? Appendix
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