A biography of a key figure in British political life, now with a new foreword by Keir Starmer, providing a vivid portrait of the man and his politics.Clement Attlee - the man who created the welfare state and decolonised vast swathes of the British Empire, including India - has been acclaimed by many as Britain's greatest twentieth-century Prime Minister. Yet somehow Attlee the man remains elusive. How did such a moderate, modest man bring about so many enduring changes? What are the secrets of his leadership style? And how do his personal attributes account for both his spectacular successes and his apparent failures?When Attlee became Prime Minister in July 1945 he was the leader of a Labour party that had won a landslide victory. With almost 50 percent of the popular vote, Attlee seemed to have achieved the platform for Labour to dominate post-war British politics. Yet just 6 years and 3 months after the 1945 victory, and despite all Attlee's governments had appeared to achieve, Labour was out of office, condemned to opposition for a further 13 years. This presents one of the great paradoxes of twentieth-century British history: how Attlee's government achieved so much, but lost power so quickly. But perhaps the greatest paradox was Attlee himself. Attlee's obituary in "The Times" in 1967 stated that 'much of what he did was memorable; very little that he said'. This new biography, based on extensive research into Attlee's papers and first-hand interviews, examines the myths that have arisen around this key figure of British political life, providing a vivid portrait of this man and his politics.

Offers a vivid portrait of the Prime Minister most known for the creation of the welfare state, at a time when the future of the NHS is under debate

Foreword by Keir StarmerINTRODUCTION to the New EditionCHAPTER ONE: GROWING UP IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND, 1883 - 1901CHAPTER TWO: FROM OXFORD TO THE EAST END, 1901 - 1914CHAPTER THREE: THE FIRST WORLD WAR, 1914-1918CHAPTER FOUR: THE POLITICAL APPRENTICESHIP, 1918-1922CHAPTER FIVE: A NEW MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, 1922-24CHAPTER SIX: OPPOSITION AND INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1924-30CHAPTER SEVEN: IN GOVERNMENT, 1930-1931CHAPTER EIGHT: BACK IN OPPOSITION, 1931-35CHAPTER NINE: LABOUR LEADERSHIP, 1935-39CHAPTER TEN: FROM OPPOSITION TO GOVERNMENT, 1939 - 1942CHAPTER ELEVEN: DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND DOMINIONS SECRETARY, 1942-43CHAPTER TWELVE: DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL, 1943 - 45CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THE 1945 GENERAL ELECTIONCHAPTER FOURTEEN: ATTLEE AS PRIME MINISTERCHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE SCALE OF THE CHALLENGE, JULY - NOVEMBER 1945CHAPTER SIXTEEN: FULFILLING THE PARTY'S AMBITIONS - NATIONAL INSURANCE, NATIONAL HEALTH, AND NATIONALIZATION, 1945 - 1948CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: INDIACHAPTER EIGHTEEN: BRITAIN AND AMERICA, 1945-1951CHAPTER NINETEEN: COAL AND CURRENCY: ATTLEE'S LEADERSHIP CRISIS OF 1947CHAPTER TWENTY: MISSED OPPORTUNITIES? 1948-1949CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: POLITICAL TROUBLES, 1949-51CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: MANAGING THE PARTY, 1951-55CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: THE LAST YEARS, 1955-1967CONCLUSION