Asquith's administration laid the foundation of Britain's welfare state, but he was plunged into a major power struggle with the House of Lords. The budget of 1909 was vetoed by the hereditary upper chamber, and in 1910 Asquith called and won two elections on this constitutional issue. The Lords eventually passed the 1911 Parliament Act, ending their veto of financial legislation. Asquith was Prime Minister on the outbreak of World War I, but his government fell in 1916 as a result of the 'Shells Scandal'.

Former British Prime Minister best known for the creation of the National Health Service.

Prime Ministers Series, Baldwin was at the helm during the General Strike and the Abdication.

Prime Minister known for announcing "that Britain favoured a homeland for the Jewish People in Palestine."

Biography of the last British Prime Minister of the 20th Century.

Part of the Prime Ministers Series, Law was a Conservative who opposed Home rule for Ireland

The British prime minister is universally acknowledged to be the most powerful single individual in the British system of government, but very little is known about what goes on behind the closed door at #10 Downing Street. As Anthony King points out, there are few articles—let alone books—on the prime ministership available to students of British politics either in the UK or the US. As the preface to the American edition states, while the British prime minister and the American president "do resemble each other in some ways, it is important right at the start to recognize the profound differences between them."

Part of the Prime Ministers Series, Callaghan was the Labour Prime Minister who was defeated by Thatcher

A biography of the intriguing life of the unknown Liberal British Prime Minister.

Former British Prime Minister who will always be remembered for his appeasement policy towards Hitler.

Part of the 20 Prime Ministers Series

Winston Churchill (1874-1965, KG 1953) Conservative politician, Prime Minister 1940-5 and 1951-5. Perhaps the most determined and inspirational war leader in Britain's history, it was during that darkest summer of 1940 that Churchill's astonishing oratory seemed to rally the nation, from his opening statement to the House of Commons on May 13th that he had 'nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat'. Each successive crisis produced phrases that have resounded ever since, from the danger of invasion after the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk ('their finest hour') to the Battle of Britain (his tribute to the 'Few'). However, he lost the general election in June 1945. But he returned to Downing Street in 1951, finally retiring in 1955.

Born on January 17, 1863, in Manchester, England, David Lloyd George is perhaps best known for his service as prime minister of the United Kingdom during the second half of World War I. While many biographies have chronicled his life and political endeavors, few, if any, have explored how his devotion to democratic doctrines in the Church of Christ shaped his political perspectives and choices both before and during the First World War. In David Lloyd George: The Politics of Religious Conviction, Jerry L. Gaw bridges this gap in scholarship, showcasing George’s religious roots and their impact on his politics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

With a comprehensive narrative that spans more than a century, Gaw’s book ranges beyond typical biography and examines how the work and theology of Alexander Campbell, a founder

of the Stone-Campbell Movement in America, influenced a prominent world leader. George’s twelve diaries and the more than three thousand letters he wrote to his brother between 1886 and 1943 provide the foundation for Gaw’s thorough analysis of George’s beliefs and politics. Taken together, these texts illuminate his lifelong adherence to the Church of Christ in Britain and how his faith, in turn, contributed to his proclivity for championing humanitarian, egalitarian, and popular political policies beginning with the first of his fifty-five years in the British Parliament.

Broadly, Gaw’s study helps us to understand how the Stone-Campbell tradition—and later, Churches of Christ—became contextualized in the British Isles over the course of the nineteenth century. His significant mining of primary materials successively reveals a lesser-known side of David Lloyd George, in large part explaining how he arrived at the political decisions that helped shape history.

Alec Douglas-Home was an aristocrat who disclaimed his peerage to become Prime Minister in 1963.

Succeeded Churchill as Prime Minister, but worsened relations with USA during the Suez Crisis

Former British Prime Minister Edward Heath is best known for taking Britain into the European Union.

Despite the undeniable importance of Japan in world affairs, both politically and economically, the office of the Japanese prime minister has recieved far less attention from scholars than have the top political offices in other advanced industrialized democracies.  This book is the first major systemic analysis of the Japanese prime minister’s role and influence in the policy process.

Kenji Hayao argues that the Japanese prime minister can play a major if not critical role in bringing about a change in policy.  In Japan the prime minister’s style is different from what is considered usual for parliamentary leaders: rather than being strong and assertive, he tends to be reactive.  How did the role develop in this way?  If he is not a major initiator of policy change, how and under what conditions can the prime minister make his impact felt?  Finally, what are the consequences of this rather weak leadership?

In answering these questions, Professor Hayao presents two case studies (educational reform and reform of the tax system) involving Nakasone Yasuhiro to see how he be became involved in the policy issues and how he affected the process.  Hayao then examines a number of broad forces that seem important in explaining the prime minister’s role in the policy process: how a leader is chosen; his relationships with other important actors in the political system - the  political parties and the subgovernments; and the structure of his “inner” staff and advisors.

A biography of the Liberal British Prime Minister, 'Who Won the War'.

Fatherly friend to JFK he repaired the rift between the USA and Britain created by the Suez crisis.

British Prime Minister who worked with Clinton to bring peace to Northern Ireland

Fronted by one of the world’s most iconic doors, 10 Downing Street is the home and office of the British Prime Minister and the heart of British politics. Steeped in both political and architectural history, this famed address was originally designed in the late seventeenth century as little more than a place of residence, with no foresight of the political significance the location would come to hold. As its role evolved, 10 Downing Street, now known simply as ‘Number 10,’ has required constant adaptation in order to accommodate the changing requirements of the premiership. 
Written by Number 10’s first ever ‘Researcher in Residence,’ with unprecedented access to people and papers, No. 10: The Geography of Power at Downing Street sheds new light on unexplored aspects of Prime Ministers’ lives. Jack Brown tells the story of the intimately entwined relationships between the house and its post-war residents, telling how each occupant’s use and modification of the building reveals their own values and approaches to the office of Prime Minister. The book reveals how and why Prime Ministers have stamped their personalities and philosophies upon Number 10 and how the building has directly affected the ability of some Prime Ministers to perform the role. Both fascinating and extremely revealing, No. 10 offers an intimate account of British political power and the building at its core. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the nature and history of British politics.  

Patrice Lumumba was a leader of the independence struggle in what is today the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the country’s first democratically elected prime minister. After a meteoric rise in the colonial civil service and the African political elite, he became a major figure in the decolonization movement of the 1950s. Lumumba’s short tenure as prime minister (1960–1961) was marked by an uncompromising defense of Congolese national interests against pressure from international mining companies and the Western governments that orchestrated his eventual demise.

Cold war geopolitical maneuvering and well-coordinated efforts by Lumumba’s domestic adversaries culminated in his assassination at the age of thirty-five, with the support or at least the tacit complicity of the U.S. and Belgian governments, the CIA, and the UN Secretariat. Even decades after Lumumba’s death, his personal integrity and unyielding dedication to the ideals of self-determination, self-reliance, and pan-African solidarity assure him a prominent place among the heroes of the twentieth-century African independence movement and the worldwide African diaspora.

Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja’s short and concise book provides a contemporary analysis of Lumumba’s life and work, examining both his strengths and his weaknesses as a political leader. It also surveys the national, continental, and international contexts of Lumumba’s political ascent and his swift elimination by the interests threatened by his ideas and practical reforms.

The Labour party's first Prime Minister

Biography of the first Prime Minister of the 20th Century during the height of the British Empire

Britain's first woman prime minister, friend of Ronald Reagan and the longest serving head of government in the 20th century (1979-90), but also the only one to be removed from office in peacetime by pressure from within her own party

The Great War profoundly affected both New Zealand and its Prime Minister William Massey (1856-1925). 'Farmer Bill' oversaw the despatch of a hundred thousand New Zealanders, including his own sons, to Middle Eastern and European battlefields. In 1919 he led the New Zealand delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, where it was represented both in its own right and as part of the British Empire. This symbolised its staunch loyalty to Empire and the fact that it had its own particular interests. Massey was largely satisfied with the Versailles Treaty, as New Zealand gained a mandate over Western Samoa, Germany forfeited its other Pacific colonies, and control over Nauru's valuable phosphate deposits was shared between Britain, Australia and New Zealand, rather than simply being given to Australia. He believed that the apparent confirmation of British power improved New Zealand's security, and had little faith in the League of Nations. However, the opposition Labour Party came to believe the League could prevent a major war and made that a cornerstone of their foreign policy in government after 1935. Their belief that Versailles was unfair to Germany partly influenced them to favour negotiations with Hitler even after the outbreak of war in 1939.

Harold Wilson held out the promise of technology and of 'the Britain that is going to be forged in the white heat of this revolution'. A balance of payment crisis, leading to devaluation in 1967, frustrated the fulfilment of his primeministerial promises. Meanwhile foreign affaris were dominated by the issue of Rhodesia, in which Wilson took a personal initiative in diplomacy with Ian Smith but failed to make any progress.

In 1946 Winston Churchill shook the world with his famous "Iron Curtain" speech on the campus of Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, now the site of the Winston Churchill Memorial and Library. Inscribed on the pediment of his statue at the memorial is the epigraph from Churchill's History of the Second World War:

In War: Resolution

In Defeat: DefianceIn Victory: MagnanimityIn Peace: Good Will

No other words provide so poignant a summary of the principles that sustained Churchill's life's work.

Under the auspices of the Winston Churchill Memorial and Library, the Crosby Kemper Lectureship was established in 1979 by the Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation of Kansas City, Missouri. Lectures have been delivered annually, or biennially, at the Winston Churchill Memorial and Library on the campus of Westminster College by authorities on British history and on Sir Winston Churchill. The essays included in this volume constitute the first dozen Crosby Kemper lectures, most by individuals who were personally acquainted with Churchill and all by individuals who had studied his life and his work.

Lord Robert Blake discusses Churchill's ambivalence toward the Conservative party during his political career. Philip S. Ziegler, Earl Mountbatten's biographer, examines whether Britain should have granted independence to India in 1947, taking as his departure Churchill's unequivocal belief that Britain's imperial rule there was a sacred trust not to be betrayed. Martin Gilbert, Churchill's biographer, carefully examines the origins of the Cold War and the famous Iron Curtain speech. Sir Michael Howard, Lovett Professor and Naval Historian at Yale University, further examines Churchill's role during the Cold War and the formulation of his "two-track" strategy that pushed for military strength while persistently striving for peace with the Soviets. Sir John Colville, Churchill's private secretary, ponders the extent to which great men are made by circumstances, citing Churchill's peccadilloes and strengths. Churchill's daughter Mary Soames and granddaughter, the sculptor Edwina Sandys, also give moving portraits of a much-loved family man.

All bring this illustrious leader to life in the process of interpreting his political actions, reviewing his historical contributions, and sharing anecdotes about his personal life.