This text covers the history of the Conservative Party from its formation as an identifiable political entity in 1714 until the late 20th century including the disastrous 1997 election and the confusion in which the party found itself.

Appetite for Power

Ramsden, John

History

HarperCollins Publishers, Ltd

Original and revelatory portrait of Churchill post Second World War which examines the development of his fame and his posthumous reputation from one of Britain’s leading political writers
John Ramsden is head of the history department at Queen Mary and Westfield College and a first-rate professional historian. He is a brilliant lecturer with an enviable reputation and is widely admired by the likes of Ben Pimlott and Peter Hennessy, who describes him as ‘much better than me’. His first trade book, AN APPETITE FOR POWER: A NEW HISTORY OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY is the book to replace Lord Blake’s history – an authoritative, readable, classic history book.
Ramsden’s second trade book is one on Churchill post-Second World War. This will not be ‘yet another book’ on Churchill, but a fresh, original biographical study of Churchill’s post-war fame and reputation, what he was thought to stand for and how that reputation was constructed. It will contain a lot of new and revelatory material on how his personality, attitudes, and vision of himself have affected our own political perception of ourselves as a nation, and will argue that Churchill’s romantic, imperial notion of Britain has contributed directly to many of the political debates of recent years – particularly our attitudes in Europe. This will not be a dry political analysis but an important biographical study of the man who found himself described as the prized possession of the whole world, and of the whole Churchill phenomenon from one of our most interesting and readable historians.
This is Ramsden’s turf. This aspect of Churchill has never been dealt with in any depth and he will undertake extensive new research amongst archives in Britain and the USA – much of which have either not been drawn on before or have only just been released.

Man of the Century: Winston Churchill and His Legend Since 1945

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Harpercollins

He is commemorated throughout the world in museums and statuary, on street signs and in gift shops; even more prominently, Winston Churchill's monumental presence persists in shelves upon shelves of biographies and histories, dozens of which were written by Churchill himself and have been international bestsellers. While political figures are routinely the objects of intense posthumous scrutiny, few have achieved such pervasive and ongoing influence, and fewer still have so adeptly orchestrated their own place in history. Man of the Century is the often surprising story of how Winston Churchill, in the last years of his life, carefully crafted his reputation for posterity, and it reveals him as the twentieth century's pioneering, and perhaps most gifted, "spin doctor." It is also a far-ranging account not only of Churchill's continuing impact on British, American, and European politics, but also of the powerful legacy of his vision of a common destiny and heritage for English-speaking peoples around the world. In the first book to examine the full scope of Churchill's postwar influence, John Ramsden draws on fresh material and extensive research from three continents to argue that the statesman's force of personality and romantic, imperial notion of Britain have contributed directly to many political events of the last several decades―including American involvement in Vietnam and the role of the Anglo-American alliance in promoting and protecting a certain vision of world order. Man of the Century captures the complexities of Churchill's story and political legacy as well as the spirit and irreverent power of the statesman who became a modern legend.

Columbia University Press

An enormously entertaining, informative, and readable book about the rivalries between Britain and Germany over the last 100 years.

Don't Mention the War: The British and the Germans since 1890

Europe

Little, Brown Book Group

The Times decided in 1891 that 'Germany does not excite in any class among us the slightest feeling of distrust or antipathy' - the zenith of a century in which Britons admired German culture and our monarchy was closely involved with Germany royalty. Yet twenty-five years later began the era of world wars in which Britain and Germany were twice pitted against each other. After 1945, it seemed that Britain would learn to co-exist on happier terms with newly democratic Germany, yet persistent memories of 1940 have slowed that process, hesitations reinforced by the showing of war films on television, chants on the terraces, and populist tabloid gibes.John Ramsden's groundbreaking book looks at every aspect of Anglo-German relations for the last 100 years: from the wars themselves to how they have been seen by the tabloids as re-enacted in subsequent football matches. And he askes 'What is the British problem with Germany?' As Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin once said 'I tries 'ard, but I 'ates 'em'.

Don't Mention The War

ABACUS +

The making of Conservative Party policy: The Conservative Research Department since 1929

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Longman

Designed to meet the needs of first year history students and of students from other disciplines, this book contains both a continuous narrative thread and analytical sections which often cross chronological boundaries. It covers political history, containing only as much of the economic and social dimensions as are essential to an understanding of the politics of the period. The book begins with a look at the political instability of 17th century England, the policies of James II and the invasion of William of Orange, the Revolution settlement and the Presbyterian dominance in Scotland and confiscation in Ireland. It then goes on to look at William III and Anne including coverage of the Union with Scotland, Goldophin and Marlborough, the Sacheverell affair, Harley and the Treaty of Utrecht. George I, the Jacobite risings and the South Sea Bubble and Walpole are discussed followed by George III and the emergence of Methodism, Wilkes and radicalism, relations with America and Spain and the Stamp Act. The following chapters cover Pitt's achievements and foreign policy in India, France, America and Ireland. The problems of the early 19th century with the Corn Law, Peterloo and the Six Acts, the Swing riots and the effects of the Reform Act are covered together with Britain's industrial lead and overseas expansion. Victorian political parties and government policies are then discussed plus the emergence of trade unions and the Labour party. The sections on the 20th century look at the impact of the Wars and government policies such as Labour's public ownership debate and the NHS and conclude with an assessment of more recent leaders such as Heath, Wilson, Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher.

Ruling Britannia: A Political History of Britain 1688-1988

Williams, Glyndwr

Addison-Wesley Longman Ltd

In this book, Dr. Ramsden recounts the Conservatives' eclipse during the latter part of the Second World War, and explains the Party's crushing defeat in the postwar election of 1945. He reassesses the Tory recovery under the guidance of R. A. Butler and Lord Woolton in the later 1940s, and throws new light on how that recovery was achieved. He discusses the Party's stormy relationship with Churchill, and the efforts of other Conservatives to make him retire. He evaluates the career of Sir Anthony Eden, and the Suez crisis which ended it; and he charts the rise to the premiership of Harold Macmillan. The Age of Churchill and Eden has been written with full access to the Conservative Party's archives, both nationally (including Conservative Central Office, the Party Whips and the Research Department) and locally (the minute books of area and constituency parties).

The Age of Churchill and Eden, 1940-1957 (History of the Conservative Party)

World

Age of Balfour and Baldwin: 1902-1940

The Poets' Guide to Economics

Business & Money

Economics

Pallas Athene

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