Publications - Cymdeithas Lloyd George / The Lloyd George Society

Below is a selection of books authored by members and speakers of the Lloyd George Society.

Nicholas K. Alderton

Emlyn Hooson and the Welsh Liberal Party 1962-1979

Published by Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru/University of Wales Press.

Synopsis:

This study presents an analysis of the Welsh Liberal Party under the leadership of Emlyn Hooson. It begins with an overview of the period prior to Hooson’s 1962 by-election win in Montgomery, following the death of Clement Davies, and the first section describes Hooson’s leadership of the Liberal Party of Wales, his recognition that the organisation was fundamentally flawed and that it needed to be reorganised. The solution was a root and branch reorganisation and the formation of a new state party, which would be federated to the British Liberal Party but separate in its functions and leadership. The second section details Hooson’s steering of the party through chapters on the organisation, policy formation and the electoral record. The book comprises the first in-depth description of the Welsh Liberal Party during a tumultuous time in Welsh politics; recognising how current Welsh political historiography has sidelined the Welsh Liberals in favour of Plaid Cymru and Labour, it re-evaluates the Liberals’ position during the period and Hooson’s role.

John Campbell

If Love Were All…

Published by Penguin Books.

Synopsis:

In the summer of 1911 David Lloyd George, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, hired a young schoolteacher called Frances Stevenson to tutor his daughter in the summer holidays. He was forty-eight, and married with four children. She was twenty-two, highly intelligent as well as very attractive, and Lloyd George soon began to employ her as his secretary.

At the beginning of 1913 they became lovers, on terms spelt out by Lloyd George with ruthless clarity. Their secret relationship was to last for thirty years until his wife’s death finally allowed Lloyd George to marry her in 1943.

Combining sex, romance, family feuds and high politics- based on letters, diaries and a vast range of material, published and unpublished – If Love Were All… is the first detailed study of this extraordinary relationship, one that was known about by everyone in politics but never revealed in the press, and the strains that it placed on both parties.

Russell Deacon

The Welsh Liberals – The History of the Liberal and Liberal Democratic Parties in Wales

Published by Welsh Academic Press.

Synopsis:

Despite being Wales’ oldest political party, The Welsh Liberals is the first comprehensive published history of the Welsh Liberal Party and its successor, the Welsh Liberal Democrat Party.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century the Welsh Liberal Party dominated Welsh politics and in the process, the Welsh Liberal Party became the first truly Welsh political party. During this period a new generation of radical and talented politicians emerged from its ranks and who would leave an indelible mark on Wales and the British state.

From 1905 until 1922 Welsh Liberals would hold some of the most senior political position in the British Empire, but by the end of the First World War the Welsh Liberals had passed their political peak. For the next half century it was a story of decline and a struggle for the party’s very survival until it once more joined a government in 2000, this time in the National Assembly for Wales.

The Welsh Liberals: The History of the Welsh Liberal and Liberal Democrat Parties charts the highs and lows of an extraordinary party. This comprehensive study includes over 40 interviews with senior figures from within the Welsh Liberal Party, the Welsh SDP and Welsh Liberal Democrat Party and provides the first detailed history of Wales’ oldest political party.

The Government and Politics of Wales

Published by Edinburgh University Press.

Synopsis:

The first textbook to explain the full range of operations in Welsh governance and politics for AS, A2 and undergraduate students

This new textbook explains Welsh devolution through the use of case studies, critical analysis and clear explanations of processes and terms. As the Welsh Assembly moves towards becoming a Welsh Parliament and the Welsh Government fashions a Welsh policy agenda, distinct from Westminster, students of British politics will learn how Welsh politics works in practice and how it is evolving.

Published by Edinburgh University Press.

Synopsis:

The political landscape of the UK was altered dramatically with the devolution of power to London, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This introduction to the major changes caused by devolution looks at both the historical background and contemporary political events. It assesses the operation, strengths and weaknesses of the devolved state, and uses relevant case studies to illustrate the more complex ideas.

J. Graham Jones

David Lloyd George And Welsh Liberalism

Published by the National Library of Wales.

Synopsis:

A collection of seminal revisionist articles, now republished in book format, casting new light on many of the keynote events and themes in Lloyd George’s wholly unique life and career. Includes a comprehensive index.

Margaret MacMillan

War: How Conflict Shaped Us

Published by Penguin Random House.

Synopsis:

The instinct to fight may be innate in human nature, but war—organized violence—comes with organized society. War has shaped humanity’s history, its social and political institutions, its values and ideas. Our very language, our public spaces, our private memories, and some of our greatest cultural treasures reflect the glory and the misery of war. War is an uncomfortable and challenging subject not least because it brings out both the vilest and the noblest aspects of humanity.

Margaret MacMillan looks at the ways in which war has influenced human society and how, in turn, changes in political organization, technology, or ideologies have affected how and why we fight. War: How Conflict Shaped Us explores such much-debated and controversial questions as: When did war first start? Does human nature doom us to fight one another? Why has war been described as the most organized of all human activities? Why are warriors almost always men? Is war ever within our control?

Drawing on lessons from wars throughout the past, from classical history to the present day, MacMillan reveals the many faces of war—the way it has determined our past, our future, our views of the world, and our very conception of ourselves.

The Road to 1914 – The War That Ended Peace

Published by Penguin Random House

Synopsis:

From the bestselling and award-winning author of Paris 1919 comes a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, a fascinating portrait of Europe from 1900 up to the outbreak of World War I.

The century since the end of the Napoleonic wars had been the most peaceful era Europe had known since the fall of the Roman Empire. In the first years of the twentieth century, Europe believed it was marching to a golden, happy, and prosperous future. But instead, complex personalities and rivalries, colonialism and ethnic nationalisms, and shifting alliances helped to bring about the failure of the long peace and the outbreak of a war that transformed Europe and the world.

The War That Ended Peace brings vividly to life the military leaders, politicians, diplomats, bankers, and the extended, interrelated family of crowned heads across Europe who failed to stop the descent into war: in Germany, the mercurial Kaiser Wilhelm II and the chief of the German general staff, Von Moltke the Younger; in Austria-Hungary, Emperor Franz Joseph, a man who tried, through sheer hard work, to stave off the coming chaos in his empire; in Russia, Tsar Nicholas II and his wife; in Britain, King Edward VII, Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, and British admiral Jacky Fisher, the fierce advocate of naval reform who entered into the arms race with Germany that pushed the continent toward confrontation on land and sea.

There are the would-be peacemakers as well, among them prophets of the horrors of future wars whose warnings went unheeded: Alfred Nobel, who donated his fortune to the cause of international understanding, and Bertha von Suttner, a writer and activist who was the first woman awarded Nobel’s new Peace Prize. Here too we meet the urbane and cosmopolitan Count Harry Kessler, who noticed many of the early signs that something was stirring in Europe; the young Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty and a rising figure in British politics; Madame Caillaux, who shot a man who might have been a force for peace; and more. With indelible portraits, MacMillan shows how the fateful decisions of a few powerful people changed the course of history.

Taut, suspenseful, and impossible to put down, The War That Ended Peace is also a wise cautionary reminder of how wars happen in spite of the near-universal desire to keep the peace. Destined to become a classic in the tradition of Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August, The War That Ended Peace enriches our understanding of one of the defining periods and events of the twentieth century.

Lord Kenneth O. Morgan

My Histories

Published by University of Wales Press.

Synopsis:

The eventful life, scholarly work and political and personal experience of Wales’s leading historian, reflecting on the challenges and achievements which have peppered his long and successful career.

Rebirth of a Nation – A History of Modern Wales

Published by Oxford University Press.

Synopsis:

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.

Revolution to Devolution- Reflections on Welsh Democracy

Published by University of Wales Press.

Synopsis:

In the wake of the Scottish vote on independence, questions of sovereignty, devolution, and local control have perhaps never been more salient. This book explores the evolution of the idea of national identity in modern Britain as it affected Wales. It ranges historically from the French Revolution and its aftershocks to the wide-ranging effects of World War I and on to present debates over decentralization and ties with Europe, while also offering close looks at key personalities, like Lloyd George, the first (and thus far only) Welsh prime minister. Drawing on both his extensive experience in politics and his decades of academic study, Kenneth O. Morgan has written what is likely to be the definitive work on this topic.

Richard Rhys O’Brien

Published by Y Lolfa.

Synopsis:

A highly readable, in-depth analysis of the public life of Dame Margaret as wife of Prime Minister David Lloyd George. After a brief intro on her wartime public activities, the book brings to the fore her active political campaigning during Lloyd George’s peacetime Premiership from 1916 to 1922.

O’Brien’s second biography of Margaret describes her 6 major campaigns during WWI: for her Welsh Troops Fund; the British & Foreign Sailors’ Society; Welsh Army recruitment; Food & Home Economy; Temperance; Health & Social Welfare. It also looks at her campaigning for women, churches and Wales.

Dr Mark Pack

Polling Unpacked

Published by Reaktion Books.

Synopsis:

Opinion polls dominate media coverage of politics, especially elections. But how do the polls work? How do you tell the good from the bad? And in light of recent polling disasters, can we trust them at all? Polling UnPacked gives you the full story, from the first rudimentary polls in the nineteenth century, through attempts by politicians to ban polling in the twentieth century, to the very latest techniques and controversies from the last few years. In equal parts enlightening and hilarious, the book needs no prior knowledge of polling or statistics to understand. But even hardened pollsters will find much to enjoy, from how polling has been used to help plan military invasions to why an exhausted interviewer was accidentally instrumental in inventing exit polls. Written by a former political pollster and the creator of Britain’s foremost polling-intention database, Polling UnPacked shows you which opinion polls to trust, which to ignore and which, frankly, to laugh at. It will change the way you see political coverage forever.

Bad News – What The Headlines Don’t Tell Us

Published by Biteback Publishing.

Synopsis:

Bad News is a popular guide that helps you make sense of the news wherever it appears – print, broadcast or online.

Peppered with examples from around the world, the book turns a serious subject into an enjoyable read.

You will learn as you are entertained.

Readers will discover all the tricks they need to work out whether to trust a story based on an anonymous source, when big numbers are really small and when small numbers are really big, why you should ignore what appears behind someone on the TV and much more.

You’ll even learn why you should always read stories in the Daily Mail backwards and when correlation is causation.

But readers will also learn how ill-suited the news is to understanding and interpreting the modern world, even when it comes from honest journalists working for reputable outlets.

The news has a role, but readers will learn how to ensure they don’t confuse that with understanding the world.

101 Ways to Win an Election

With Edward Maxfield – Published by Biteback Publishing.

Synopsis:

In politics, there are no prizes for second place.

Luckily, seasoned campaign professionals Mark Pack and Edward Maxfield have distilled successful electoral tactics from around the globe into 101 bite-sized lessons to help steer you on the course to power. Learn how to pass the three-seconds test, why you should actually embrace online trolls, and why you must never, ever, forget the law of the left nostril.

Packed with advice and practical tips, this new, fully updated third edition of the classic political guide reveals the insider secrets and skills you need to make sure you’re in pole position on election day.

Dan Snow