Stanley Baldwin (1867–1947) is one of the most significant modern British politicians, but also one of the most controversial and puzzling. As Conservative leader and three times prime minister, Baldwin presided over the beginning of his party's long twentieth-century dominance. He did so in new and difficult conditions: the onset of modern democratic politics, the rise of Labour, chronic economic depression, the General Strike, persistent newspaper attacks, imperial discontent, the Abdication, and the threats from Mussolini and Hitler. This book provides an understanding of Baldwin's career, including a serious analysis of the moral and intellectual influences of his early life. Its main concerns are the investigation of a Conservative mind, and its communication with the various audiences that constituted the political nation. This is not a conventional biography, but rather an examination of the nature of political leadership, Conservative politics and 'national values'.
- ISBN13 9780521438124
- Publish Date 31 May 2007 (first published 28 August 1999)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 17 June 2022
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Cambridge University Press
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 408
- Language English