
The Myth That Will Not Die
The Formation of the National Government 1931
- 140 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
No figure in the Labour movement has attracted such extremes of emotion as has James Ramsay MacDonald. Loved and almost worshipped for more than 30 years, his formation of the National Government in August 1931 incurred hatred, bitterness and contempt from those whom he had led for so long. MacDonald's career and the admiration and odium which it engendered is without parallel in British politics. Originally published in 1978, this book provides an answer to the charge that MacDonald deliberately betrayed the Labour movement by forming a coalition government with the Conservative and Liberal Parties. It examines the criticism that he ruthlessly proceeded to destroy the Labour Party in the General Election of October 1931 – an election which he pledged, only two months earlier, would not be held. Using the private papers and authorised (auto)biographies, and the Cabinet minutes of the day, this book reconstructs what really happened between August 1 and 24 1931, and accounts for the mercilessness with which he is remembered by the Labour Party.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Half Title
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Original Title Page
- Original Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Table of Contents
- By the same Author
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Dramatis Personae
- 1. The Cast
- 2. Prelude
- 3. 12 August
- 4. 13 August
- 5. 17, 18 and 19 August
- 6. Thursday 20 August
- 7. Friday 21 August
- 8. Saturday 22 August
- 9. Sunday 23 August
- 10. Monday 24 August
- 11. The Recriminations
- Postscript
- Appendix I: Cabinet Members, August-October 1931
- Appendix II: Minutes of the Labour Cabinet at which the Resignation of the Labour Government was Decided, Sunday 23 August 1931
- Appendix III: The Text of the Personal Message from Mr George Harrison to the Prime Minister, 23 August 1931
- Appendix IV: Minutes of the Final Meeting of the Labour Cabinet, 24 August 1931
- Appendix V: Paper Submitted to the Cabinet on 19 August 1931 and returned by each Member to the Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet after the conclusion of the meeting
- Appendix VI: Paper containing the economies which had been agreed by the Cabinet by 21 August 1931 and which was returned to the Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet at the conclusion of the Cabinet Meeting on 21 August by each Member of the Cabinet
- Bibliography
- Index