In 1946, Clement Attlee came to power as Labour Prime Minister with a huge landslide majority. Under his leadership, some of the greatest reforms were initiated, not least the founding of The National Health Service. Attlee had a firm vision of a more just and equitable society, which the nation wanted. This firm vision is something that attracts Frank Field. To Field, Attlee is a hero. After retirement, Clement Attlee wrote a masterly series of profiles of his great contemporaries, many published at the time in The Observer. These are now collected together in a book for the first time. They are of extraordinary historical interest and will command an audience in their own right. In them we see how Attlee emphasised the importance of character for successful politics. To Field they epitomise the intellect and humanity of a hero of 20th Century politics, a man with profound qualities that are so poorly represented in today's politics. In a brilliant and most controversial introduction, Frank Field argues just how radical Attlee was, wishing, for example, to realign British foreign and defence policy. In his epilogue, Professor Peter Hennessy, shows the importance of Attlee in full historical perspective.
- 239 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
Table of contents
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introductory essay: a social democrat in action
- 1. Lansbury of London, Observer
- 2. The King I Knew
- 3. Truth About the War
- 4. The Pleasure of Books
- 5. Good Patriot and Bad Politician
- 6. Keir Hardie
- 7. England My England
- 8. Blue Stocking in Action
- 9. A Good Man
- 10. Montgomery: My Assessment
- 11. George Lansbury: Man of His Day
- 12. Mr. Churchill's Eden
- 13. The Role of the Monarchy
- 14. The Hiroshima Choice
- 15. An American 'Statesman of the Century'
- 16. Uncle Fred Looks Back
- 17. Jumping the Gun
- 18. What Sort of Man Gets to the Top?
- 19. Flaws at the Top
- 20. A Name for Loyalty
- 21. A Man of Power
- 22. An Unextinguished Flame
- 23. Bevan as Hero
- 24. Courageous Intellectual
- 25. She Made Things Hum
- 26. Toynbee Hall Looks to the Future
- 27. In the Driver's Seat
- 28. The Man I Knew
- 29. Quite Possibly a Classic
- 30. Mr. Macmillan's Early Political Life and Times
- Epilogue: Professor Peter Hennessey
- Index
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Yes, you can access Attlee's Great Contemporaries by Frank Field in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & British History. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.