The Neville Chamberlain Diary Letters

Volume 3: The Heir Apparent, 1928-33

Robert Self

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9781840146936
• eBook ISBN:
  9781351963732
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

As a primary source of historical evidence and insight, it is difficult to overstate the value and importance of Neville Chamberlain's diary letters to his sisters. They represent the most complete and illuminating 'insider' record of British politics between the wars yet to be published. From 1915 Chamberlain wrote detailed weekly epistles to his sisters until his death in 1940; a confidential account of events covering the quarter of a century during which he stood at the very centre of Conservative and national politics. Beyond the fascination of the historical record of people and events, these letters are extremely valuable for the remarkable light they throw upon the personality and character of the private man lurking behind the austerely forbidding public persona.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Editor’s Note
• List of Abbreviations
• 1 Introduction – Neville Chamberlain, 1928–33: The Heir Apparent
• 2 1928 – ‘Winston’s Plan … Changes Like a Kaleidoscope’: Derating and the Battle for Local Government Reform
• 3 1929 – ‘There is no Certainty in Politics’: Legislative Triumph and Electoral Defeat
• 4 1930 – ‘No Confidence is Felt in S.B.’: Baldwin, Beaverbrook and the Empire Crusade
• 5 1931 – ‘Well, Well, it’s a Funny World’: Financial Crisis and the National Government
• 6 1932 – ‘A Very Momentous Year’: The Tariff, Lausanne and Ottawa
• 7 1933 – ‘Few Chancellors Have Had a More Difficult Task’: The Riddle of War Debts and Unemployment Insurance Reform
• Appendix I: The Chamberlain Household and Family
• Appendix II: Primary Sources Consulted for Volume Three
• Index