Attlee

A biography of a key figure in British political life, now with a new foreword by Keir Starmer, providing a vivid portrait of the man and his politics.
Clement Attlee - the man who created the welfare state and decolonised vast swathes of the British Empire, including India - has been acclaimed by many as Britain's greatest twentieth-century Prime Minister. Yet somehow Attlee the man remains elusive. How did such a moderate, modest man bring about so many enduring changes? What are the secrets of his leadership style? And how do his personal attributes account for both his spectacular successes and his apparent failures?
When Attlee became Prime Minister in July 1945 he was the leader of a Labour party that had won a landslide victory. With almost 50 percent of the popular vote, Attlee seemed to have achieved the platform for Labour to dominate post-war British politics. Yet just 6 years and 3 months after the 1945 victory, and despite all Attlee's governments had appeared to achieve, Labour was out of office, condemned to opposition for a further 13 years. This presents one of the great paradoxes of twentieth-century British history: how Attlee's government achieved so much, but lost power so quickly. But perhaps the greatest paradox was Attlee himself. Attlee's obituary in "The Times" in 1967 stated that 'much of what he did was memorable; very little that he said'. This new biography, based on extensive research into Attlee's papers and first-hand interviews, examines the myths that have arisen around this key figure of British political life, providing a vivid portrait of this man and his politics.

Nick Thomas-Symonds is the current Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade. Previously a barrister and academic, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2012 and has been the Member of Parliament for Torfaen since 2015. He is the author of Nye: The Political Life of Aneurin Bevan (2014) and Harold Wilson: The Winner (2022).

Foreword by Keir Starmer
INTRODUCTION to the New Edition
CHAPTER ONE: GROWING UP IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND, 1883 - 1901
CHAPTER TWO: FROM OXFORD TO THE EAST END, 1901 - 1914
CHAPTER THREE: THE FIRST WORLD WAR, 1914-1918
CHAPTER FOUR: THE POLITICAL APPRENTICESHIP, 1918-1922
CHAPTER FIVE: A NEW MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, 1922-24
CHAPTER SIX: OPPOSITION AND INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1924-30
CHAPTER SEVEN: IN GOVERNMENT, 1930-1931
CHAPTER EIGHT: BACK IN OPPOSITION, 1931-35
CHAPTER NINE: LABOUR LEADERSHIP, 1935-39
CHAPTER TEN: FROM OPPOSITION TO GOVERNMENT, 1939 - 1942
CHAPTER ELEVEN: DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND DOMINIONS SECRETARY, 1942-43
CHAPTER TWELVE: DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL, 1943 - 45
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THE 1945 GENERAL ELECTION
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: ATTLEE AS PRIME MINISTER
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE SCALE OF THE CHALLENGE, JULY - NOVEMBER 1945
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: FULFILLING THE PARTY'S AMBITIONS - NATIONAL INSURANCE, NATIONAL HEALTH, AND NATIONALIZATION, 1945 - 1948
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: INDIA
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: BRITAIN AND AMERICA, 1945-1951
CHAPTER NINETEEN: COAL AND CURRENCY: ATTLEE'S LEADERSHIP CRISIS OF 1947
CHAPTER TWENTY: MISSED OPPORTUNITIES? 1948-1949
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: POLITICAL TROUBLES, 1949-51
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: MANAGING THE PARTY, 1951-55
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: THE LAST YEARS, 1955-1967
CONCLUSION