Originally published in 1971, this book traces the revival, triumph, division and decline of the British Liberal Party in the late 19th & 20th centuries. It does so by focusing on the career of David Lloyd George, itself the decisive agent for change in this period. The first part of the book is an extended critical essay; the second part consists of primary documentary material which is intimately linked to the commentary in the first section. The major phases of the period are covered: The tension between the Old Liberalism and the New; the challenges confronting the Liberal government of 1905-15; the impact of world war and Lloyd George’s wartime premiership; the Lloyd George coalition in 1918-22 and the reasons for its downfall; and the slow decline of the Liberals between 1922 and 1929.

Originally published in 1971, this book traces the revival, triumph, division and decline of the British Liberal Party in the late 19th & 20th centuries. It does so by focusing on the career of David Lloyd George, itself the decisive agent for change in this period. The first part of the book is an extended critical essay; the second part consists of primary documentary material which is intimately linked to the commentary in the first section. The major phases of the period are covered: The tension between the Old Liberalism and the New; the challenges confronting the Liberal government of 1905-15; the impact of world war and Lloyd George's wartime premiership; the Lloyd George coalition in 1918-22 and the reasons for its downfall; and the slow decline of the Liberals between 1922 and 1929.

A new edition of this best-selling history of Britain, from Roman times, now updated to cover the first decade of the 21st century. The Oxford History of Britain tells the story of Britain and its people over two thousand years, from the coming of the Roman legions to the present day. Encompassing political, social, economic, and cultural developments throughout the British Isles, the dramatic narrative is taken up in turn by ten leading historians who offer the fruits of the best modern scholarship to the general reader in an authoritative form. A vivid, sometimes surprising picture emerges of a continuous turmoil of change in every period, and the wider social context of political and economic tension is made clear. But consensus, no less than conflict, is a part of the story: in focusing on elements of continuity down the centuries, the authors bring out that special awareness of identity which has been such a distinctive feature of British society. By relating both these factors in the British experience, and by exploring the many ways in which Britain has shaped and been shaped by contact with Europe and the wider world, this landmark work brings the reader face to face with the past, and the foundations of modern British society. This updated new edition (by the original editor) adds great richness by taking the story down from the economic crisis of 2008 to the conflict over Europe at the present day.

This is an integrated range of studies, focussing on Wales, by a long-established, internationally-recognised academic authority and member of the House of Lords, on the advance of democracy and the evolving idea of national identity in modern Britain. Looking back to the impact of change in Europe and the wider world from the 1789 revolution in France onwards, this book covers key personalities such as Lloyd George, the impact of the First World War in Wales, and relates to contemporary debates on Scottish independence and the connections with Europe. It opens up wider issues of open government, foreign policy, the rule of law and and cultural diversity.

The People's Peace: Britain since 1945 is the first comprehensive study by a professional historian of British history from 1945 to the present day. It examines the transformation of post-war Britain from the planning enthusiasm of 1945 to the rise of New Labour. Its themes include the troubles of the British economy; public criticism of the legitimacy of the state and its instruments of authority; the co-existence of growing personal prosperity with widespread social inequality; and the debates aroused by decolonization, and Britain's relationship to the Commonwealth, the US and Europe. Changes in cultural life, from the puritanical 'austerity' of the 1940's, through the 'permissiveness' of the 1960s, to the tensions and achievements of recent years are also charted. Using a wide variety of sources, including the records of political parties and the most recently released documents from the Public Records Office, Kenneth Morgan brings the story right up to date and draws comparisons with the post-war history of other nations. This penetrating analysis by a leading twentieth-century historian will prove invaluable to anyone interested in the development of the Britain of today.

This is an integrated range of studies, focussing on Wales, by a long-established, internationally-recognised academic authority and member of the House of Lords, on the advance of democracy and the evolving idea of national identity in modern Britain. Looking back to the impact of change in Europe and the wider world from the 1789 revolution in France onwards, this book covers key personalities such as Lloyd George, the impact of the First World War in Wales, and relates to contemporary debates on Scottish independence and the connections with Europe. It opens up wider issues of open government, foreign policy, the rule of law and and cultural diversity.

The British Left has developed almost beyond recognition since the early days of electoral reform heralded by the Great Reform Act of 1832. In this book, Kenneth Morgan, one of the foremost historians of left-wing politics, provides a detailed history of the British Left from the Great Reform Act to the rise (and decline) of New Labour. Along the way, he highlights the characters and events that have been pivotal in shaping the development of the Left -- from Gladstone and the New Radicalism, to Lloyd George and the Boer War, to Tony Blair and the War in Iraq. Morgan's searing analysis and accessible scholarship, not to mention his enormous distinction as a political historian, makes this an essential book for anyone interested in British history and the history of socialism.

First published as part of the best-selling The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, Kenneth Morgan's Very Short Introduction to Twentieth-Century Britain examines the forces of consensus and of conflict in twentieth-century Britain. The account covers the trauma of the First World War and the social divisions of the twenties; fierce domestic and foreign policy debates in the thirties; the impact of the Second World War for domestic transformation, popular culture and the loss of empire; the transition from the turmoil of the seventies to the aftermath of Thatcherism and the advent of New Labour. Throughout, cultural and artistic themes are woven into the analysis, along with the distinct national experiences of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. The profound tension that shook the United Kingdom are juxtaposed against equally deep forces for stability, cohesion, and a sense of historic identity. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

This beautifully illustrated volume tells the story of Britain and its people over two thousand years, from the coming of the Roman legions to the present day. Encompassing political, social, economic, and cultural developments throughout the British Isles, the dramatic narrative is taken up in turn by ten leading historians who offer the fruits of the best modern scholarship to the general reader in an authoritative form, illuminating their text with carefully chosen pictures and maps. A vivid, sometimes surprising picture emerges of a continuous turmoil of change in every period, and the wider social context of political and economic tension is made clear. But consensus, no less than conflict, is a part of the story: in focusing on elements of continuity down the centuries, the authors bring out that special awareness of identity which has been such a distinctive feature of British society. By relating both these factors in the British experience, and by exploring the many ways in which Britain has shaped and been shaped by contact with Europe and the wider world, this landmark work brings the reader face to face with the past, and the foundations of modern British society. The new edition, the first for almost twenty years, brings the story into the twenty-first century, covering the changes to British society and culture during the Blair years and the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath.

This work inquires into those aspects of the career and ideas of David Lloyd George that have had special relevance to Wales. It deals primarily with his place in the history of modern Wales and the importance of his Welsh background in his career in British and world politics.

Kenneth Morgan has won wide acclaim as one of the finest historians of twentieth century Britain. His works have been hailed as "history at its very best" by New Society--the finest combination of rigorous scholarship and lucid, enjoyable writing. Now comes The People's Peace, the most comprehensive and authoritative look at post-war Britain ever written.
In The People's Peace, Morgan paints a richly detailed portrait of British social and political history from the end of the Second World War up through the rule of Margaret Thatcher. It was a time when the British, having pulled together to win what was called "the people's war," looked forward to a people's peace--a peace of plenty and equality, provided by the Labour government's dramatic new welfare programs. But Morgan shows how the nation staggered under the debt of the war, struggling to rebuild its economy for a rapidly changing world. He examines Britain's fitful retreat from its imperial legacy, depicting the surprising popularity of the withdrawal from India and other colonies, and the shock of the Suez Crisis--when the U.S. made Britain's reduced role in the world painfully clear. Morgan also provides an insightful look at the changing popular culture, from the Teddy Boys to the massive adulation of the Beatles, as well as rising consumerism, permissiveness, and the ugly racism that met the tide of African, Asian, and Caribbean immigrants.
From the debates over the welfare state, to the Profumo scandal, to the disillusionment with Wilson's chaotic Labour regime (leading to rumors of a military coup), to the crisis of strikes and economic decline that brought Margaret Thatcher to power, Morgan provides a lucid narrative of Britain's post-war politics. Even after Thatcher's apparent revival of the U.K.'s vitality, he writes, it still remains a land of tremendous inequality, split between a decaying industrial north and a growing high-tech south, the Celtic fringe and English heartland, the well-paid and the unemployed--locked into decades-old patterns. "In forty-four years," he writes, "the British had yet to recover from victory in the Second World War, even though the Germans and Japanese had so manifestly recovered from defeat."

This book examines the pattern of political and social change in Britain during the period of the Lloyd George coalition government 1918-22, and provides a reassessment of this major administration and its importance for its personality, David Lloyd George.

This is the only detailed and comprehensive account of the policies, programs, and personalities of the powerful and influential Attlee government. Based on a vast range of previously unpublished material, personal papers, and recently released public records, the book provides in-depth portraits of key figures of the period and compares Britain during these years with other European nations after 1945. In conclusion, Morgan assesses the legacy of this crucial administration for Britain, the western world, the new Commonwealth, and the Labour Party itself.

In Rebirth of a Nation the acclaimed historian Kenneth O. Morgan provides a wide-ranging and comprehensive analysis of modern Welsh history. Taking as its starting-point 1880, the book covers all aspects of the nations history from political, social, economic and religious development to literary, intellectual, and sporting achievement.
His absorbing account spans the years of Liberal ascendancy and of national renaissance from 1880 to 1914; the period of economic depression, the rise of the Labour Party, and tension between Welsh and Anglo-Welsh from 1914 to 1945; culminating in a new sense of national identity following the Second World War.

In his preface, Kenneth Morgan writes. 'Keir Hardie is by any test a decisive figure in the making of twentieth-century Britain. More than any other man. he was the maker of the modern Labour Party. . . Yet already he seems an elusive, almost forgotten figure . . .' It is Kenneth Morgan's supreme achievement to rescue Keir Hardie from his status as a sort of mythical figurehead and to present him as a more interesting, complex and credible person. In the context of the emerging Labour movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, we see Keir Hardie as pacifist, internationalist, feminist, radical and socialist; a great man if always somewhat out of step with his time. 'Deeply sympathetic, impeccably scholarly and beautifully written. . . It brings out the full complexity of Hardie's character and the full range of his interests. Hardie is brought back to life' A . J. P. Taylor 'Excellent . . . the first complete biography by a professional historian' Asa Briggs, Times Literary Supplement 'Written with tempered sympathy and considered judgement. With grace and assurance, this book is an imposing achievement' Stephen Koss