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Title details for The Wild Men by David Torrance - Wait list

The Wild Men

by David Torrance
ebook
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'Thoroughly researched... brings superbly to life figures whom history should not have forgotten.' - Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph

'A highly readable, enjoyable and informative book.' - John McTernan, Financial Times

'A meticulously researched collective biography.' - Andrew Marr, New Statesman

'Superb' — New Statesman 'Fascinating' — The Sunday Times

In 1923, four short years since the end of the First World War, and after the passing of the Act which gave all men the vote, an inconclusive election result and the prospect of a constitutional crisis opened the door for a radically different sort of government: men from working-class backgrounds who had never before occupied the corridors of power at Westminster. Who were these 'wild men'? Ramsay MacDonald, their leader and Labour's first Prime Minster, was the illegitimate son of a Scottish farm labourer; Arthur Henderson was a Scottish iron moulder; J. H. Thomas, a Welsh railwayman; John Wheatley, an Irish-born miner and publican; and William Adamson, a Fife coal miner. Never before had men from such backgrounds occupied the corridors of power in Westminster.
The Wild Men tells the story of that first Labour administration – its unexpected birth, fraught existence, and controversial downfall – through the eyes of those who found themselves in the House of Commons, running the country for the people. Blending biography and history into a compelling narrative, David Torrance reassesses the UK's first Labour government a century after it shook up a British establishment still reeling from the War – and how the establishment eventually fought back.
This is an extraordinary period in British political history which echoes down the years to our current politics and laid the foundations for the Britain of today.
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Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9781399411448
  • Release date: January 18, 2024

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9781399411448
  • File size: 2653 KB
  • Release date: January 18, 2024

Formats

OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

subjects

History Politics Nonfiction

Languages

English

'Thoroughly researched... brings superbly to life figures whom history should not have forgotten.' - Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph

'A highly readable, enjoyable and informative book.' - John McTernan, Financial Times

'A meticulously researched collective biography.' - Andrew Marr, New Statesman

'Superb' — New Statesman 'Fascinating' — The Sunday Times

In 1923, four short years since the end of the First World War, and after the passing of the Act which gave all men the vote, an inconclusive election result and the prospect of a constitutional crisis opened the door for a radically different sort of government: men from working-class backgrounds who had never before occupied the corridors of power at Westminster. Who were these 'wild men'? Ramsay MacDonald, their leader and Labour's first Prime Minster, was the illegitimate son of a Scottish farm labourer; Arthur Henderson was a Scottish iron moulder; J. H. Thomas, a Welsh railwayman; John Wheatley, an Irish-born miner and publican; and William Adamson, a Fife coal miner. Never before had men from such backgrounds occupied the corridors of power in Westminster.
The Wild Men tells the story of that first Labour administration – its unexpected birth, fraught existence, and controversial downfall – through the eyes of those who found themselves in the House of Commons, running the country for the people. Blending biography and history into a compelling narrative, David Torrance reassesses the UK's first Labour government a century after it shook up a British establishment still reeling from the War – and how the establishment eventually fought back.
This is an extraordinary period in British political history which echoes down the years to our current politics and laid the foundations for the Britain of today.
Expand title description text
History Politics Nonfiction