Citizen Clem: A Biography of Attlee

2017 | Biography

A MAJOR POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY AND A COMMENTARY ON THE LABOUR PARTY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016: THE TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES, NEW STATESMAN, EVENING STANDARD 'Easily the best single-volume, cradle-to-grave life of Clement Attlee yet written' Andrew Roberts 'Outstanding ...Bew's achievement is not only to bring this curious and introverted man to life but to make him oddly loveable' Robert Harris, Sunday Times The story of Clement Attlee is not only that of an extraordinary Labour leader and Britain's greatest peacetime prime minister; it can give us the true picture of Britain in the 20th century. Here was a man born in the governing class who devoted his life to the service of the poor; who was carried off the battlefield three times in the First World War; who stood shoulder to shoulder with Churchill at Britain's darkest moment, and then triumphed over him at the general election of 1945. His government of 1945-51 included Ernest Bevin, Herbert Morrison and Nye Bevan and was the most radical in history, giving us the NHS, National Insurance, NATO and the atomic bomb. In many ways we still live in a world of Attlee's creation.

John Bew's outstanding biography pierces his famous reticence to reveal a patriot and socialist whose politics are admirable to this day.

John Bew (Author)