Walpole in Power

Walpole in Power

Author: Jeremy Black

Publisher: Sutton Publishing

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This vivid account of the leader who shaped 18th century English politics and culture focuses on his 20 years in office.


At Power's Elbow

At Power's Elbow

Author: Andrew Blick

Publisher: Biteback Publishing

Published: 2013-08-15

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 1849546401

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Discreet, inconspicuous, prudent... The perfect prime-ministerial aide is always in the background, a low-profile figure unknown outside the Westminster bubble. Unfortunately, reality often falls short of the ideal; for as long as the office of Prime Minister has existed, its occupants have been supported by a range of colourful individuals who have garnered public interest, controversy and criticism. At Power's Elbow tells their story for the first time, uncovering the truth behind three centuries' worth of prime ministers and their aides. Its subjects range from the early media-managers and election-fixers of Sir Robert Walpole, to the teams supporting the wartime premierships of David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill, to the semi-official 'Department of the Prime Minister' established under Tony Blair. Along the way, Andrew Blick and George Jones demonstrate how these essential advisers can be a source of both solace and strife to their chiefs, solving and causing problems in almost equal measure. Above all, they reveal how a Prime Minister's approach to his staff can define his premiership, for better or for worse.


The Great Man

The Great Man

Author: Edward Pearce

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 506

ISBN-13: 1844134059

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"The year 1721 has many splendors, but there are also 13 public hanging days a year, drunkenness is endemic, and organized crime rampages through the streets. Only a generation earlier James II, suspected of conspiring to enforce Roman Catholicism and subordinate England to France, was driven out by the Whigs. In 1715 his son, the Pretender, failed to take the Crown by armed force. The new King, George I, an intelligent, moderate man, is cursed everywhere as a damned foreigner. James's followers, the Jacobites, conspire and are persecuted. In 1720, the South Sea Bubble, an attempt to finance state debt by runaway speculation, collapses. Ruined people mass in Westminster. The South Sea directors, says an MP, should be thrown into the sea. The Pretender could take over any day. Robert Walpole, once imprisoned for financial chicanery, assumes political control. When the rage subsides he becomes chief minister--or, a new title, "Prime Minister." He personally detects a Jacobite plot. Digging in, he buys parliamentary seats wholesale with secret service money. In a runaway theatrical success, "The Beggar's Opera", Walpole is compared with the criminal mastermind Jonathan Wild. But he will dominate King, Parliament, and Government until 1742. Dismissed in 1727 on the death of George I, he recruits the new King's clever wife, Caroline, and bounces cheerfully back. Coarse, corrupt, and cynical, Walpole sits on the Treasury Bench munching little Norfolk apples sent from the estate he is enlarging with political profit. This is Mr. Worldlywiseman, keeping England out of war for 20 years and setting up a stable and growing economy. All politics of a kind we can recognize begin with Robert Walpole. And here, in Edward Pearce's elegant book, he is brought vividly back to life."--Publisher description.


Sir Robert Walpole

Sir Robert Walpole

Author: Brian W. Hill

Publisher: Hamish Hamilton

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Sir Robert Walpole's ministry (1721-1742) was the longest since the Revolution of 1688. Though he is often called 'the first Prime Minister' Walpole was, Brian Hill suggests, both less and more than his modern counterparts. Less because the term itself was not generally accepted, least of all by Walpole himself, more because he was in practice more powerful than most of his successors"--Jacket, p. [2].


No. 10

No. 10

Author: Jack Brown

Publisher: Haus Publishing

Published: 2021-05-15

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 1912208776

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.


Eighteenth-Century Britain: A Very Short Introduction

Eighteenth-Century Britain: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Paul Langford

Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks

Published: 2000-08-10

Total Pages: 129

ISBN-13: 0192853996

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Part of The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, this book spans from the aftermath of the Revolution of 1688 to Pitt the Younger's defeat at attempted parliamentary reform.


British Prime Ministers From Balfour to Brown

British Prime Ministers From Balfour to Brown

Author: Robert Pearce

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-09-02

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 1135045380

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The origins of the post of Prime Minister can be traced back to the eighteenth century when Sir Robert Walpole became the monarch’s principal minister. From the dawn of the twentieth century to the early years of the twenty-first, however, both the power and the significance of the role have been transformed. British Prime Ministers from Balfour to Brown explores the personalities and achievements of those twenty individuals who have held the highest political office between 1902 and 2010. It includes studies of the dominant premiers who helped shape Britain in peace and war – Lloyd George, Churchill, Thatcher and Blair – as well as portraits of the less familiar, from Asquith and Baldwin to Wilson and Heath. Each chapter gives a concise account of its subject’s rise to power, ideas and motivations, and governing style, as well as examining his or her contribution to policy-making and handling of the major issues of the time. Robert Pearce and Graham Goodlad explore each Prime Minister’s interaction with colleagues and political parties, as well as with Cabinet, Parliament and other key institutions of government. Furthermore they assess the significance, and current reputation, of each of the premiers. This book charts both the evolving importance of the office of Prime Minister and the continuing restraints on the exercise of power by Britain’s leaders. These concise, accessible and stimulating biographies provide an essential resource for students of political history and general readers alike.


Whigs and Cities

Whigs and Cities

Author: Nicholas Rogers

Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 9780198217855

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Whigs and Cities is the first major study of the urban politics of the early Hanoverian era. The book challenges the view that the political nation was of minimal significance, highlighting the critical contribution of the larger towns to the agitations which beset Walpole and swept Pitt topower. At the same time the book is attentive to the different rhythms and trajectories of urban politics and seeks to show, through a study of Bristol, Norwich, and the metropolis, the relative strength of the opposition sentiment and its social configurations, the persistence of local antagonisms,and the interplay of economic interest and political clientage. It ends with a discussion of crowds and political festivals which sheds new light on the grass-roots dynamics of urban political culture.


The Impossible Office?

The Impossible Office?

Author: Anthony Seldon

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2024-03-14

Total Pages: 569

ISBN-13: 1009429779

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Over 300 years, fifty-seven individuals have held the office of British Prime Minister - who have been the best and worst?