Download or read book The House of Lords 1911 2011 written by Chris Ballinger and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-07 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: House of Lords reform is often characterised as unfinished business: a riddle that has been left unanswered since 1911. But rarely can an unanswered riddle have had so many answers offered, even though few have been accepted; indeed, when Viscount Cave was invited in the mid-1920s to lead a Cabinet committee on Lords reform, he complained of finding 'the ground covered by an embarrassing mass of proposals'.That embarrassing mass increased throughout the twentieth century. Much ink has been spilled on what should be done with the upper House of Parliament; much less ink has been expended on why reform has been so difficult to achieve. This book analyses in detail the principal attempts to reform the House of Lords. Starting with the Parliament Act of 1911 the book examines the century of non-reform that followed, drawing upon substantial archival sources, many of which have been under-utilised until now. These sources challenge many of the existing understandings of the history of House of Lords reform and the reasons for success or failure of reform attempts. The book begins by arguing against the popular idea that the 1911 Act was intended by its supporters to be a temporary measure. 'No one – peers included – should be allowed to pronounce about the future of the House of Lords without reading Chris Ballinger's authoritative, shrewd and readable account about reform attempts over the past century. He punctures several widely-held myths and claims in the current debate.' Rt Hon Peter Riddell CBE Director, Institute for Government and former Hansard Society chair 'This is at once an impeccably researched academic study, and a thoroughly readable account loaded with lessons for today's would-be Lords reformers.' Lord (David) Lipsey

Download or read book Britain s Policy Towards the European Community written by Helen Parr and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005-11-28 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Harold Wilson’s apparent volte-face on European Community membership in the autumn of 1966 has long puzzled commentators and Wilson’s colleagues alike. Based on interviews, private papers and recently released evidence from the National Archives, this book provides a fresh interpretation of Wilson’s policy towards the European Community. Studying the development of Britain’s policy between 1964 when Harold Wilson took office, and 1967 when the French President General de Gaulle vetoed Britain’s membership application for a second time, this book examines the rationale behind the British approach, explaining why Wilson launched an initiative for membership when the French seemed certain to obstruct. Also discussing Wilson’s handling of the Cabinet, and shedding light on Britain’s diplomacy towards the Six, this work places British policy towards Europe within the context of its foreign policy transition from a global to a regional role. Examining an important event in Anglo-European relations, this is essential reading for students of post-war British history, and for those interested in Britain’s historical relationship with Europe.

Download or read book Six Moments of Crisis written by Gill Bennett and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-02-15 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Former Whitehall insider Gill Bennett unravels the story of six crucial British foreign policy challenges since the Second World War, from the Korean War to the Falklands conflict, offering an inside account of episodes that shaped Britain's position in the world for decades to come - and in some cases still arouse controversy to this day. Lifting the lid on the making of British foreign policy from Clement Attlee to Margaret Thatcher, Bennett reveals each decision in a way that has never been done before: telling the story from the inside out and without hindsight. The result is a book that explains not just why these controversial decisions were taken, but one that shows us how history is actually made - and also just how difficult these big decisions really were. Gill Bennett considers exactly what ministers knew at the time; how personal experience, relationships, past events and prevailing circumstance influenced the decision-making process; and how the balance of history was tipped in each case: by argument, moral imperative, obligation - or even sheer force of personality.

Download or read book The Wilson Governments 1964 1970 Reconsidered written by glen O'Hara and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-02 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a fascinating re-assessment of our view of the Wilson governments of 1964-1970. This new text draws on newly available sources, across the range of British government, and for the first time looks at the whole range of political and state activity. This critical appraisal provides a fascinating case study of British government in action in this key period of British History. This book was previously published as a special issue of the leading journal Contemporary British History. It is an excellent resource for students of governance, foreign policy, economics and social policy.

Download or read book Britain and Europe since 1945 written by Alex May and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-06-06 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a succinct, timely introduction to one of the most highly charged political questions which has dominated British politics since 1945: Britain's position in Europe. The study traces the evolution of British policy towards Europe since 1945, presenting the full international context as well as the impact on domestic party politics - including an analysis of the divisions in the Conservative Party under John Major.

Download or read book Executive Leadership in Anglo American Systems written by Colin Campbell and published by University of Pittsburgh Pre. This book was released on 2010-11-23 with total page 430 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eighteen distinguished scholars and practicing officials address the problems of executive leadership in the United States, Britain, Canada, and Australia. Individual essays focus on cabinet government; domestic, military, and economic advisers; executive agencies; and personal staff for presidents and prime ministers. Provocative comparisons between and among systems make the discussions particularly insightful.

Download or read book British Policy in the Persian Gulf 1961 1968 written by Helene von Bismarck and published by Springer. This book was released on 2013-03-25 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth analysis of Great Britain's policy in the oil-rich Persian Gulf region during the last years of British imperialism in the area, covering the period from the independence of Kuwait to the decision of the Wilson Government to withdraw from the Gulf.

Download or read book Harold Wilson and European Integration written by Oliver J. Daddow and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-01-20 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Harold Wilson's direction of the second British application to join the EEC us ripe for reinterpretation. With new and exciting material now available in the Public Record Office and abroad, this is an extremely propitious moment to reconsider Wilson's motivations, and to contextualise them in light of evidence on foreign policy-making contained in the official record.

Download or read book John Bull s Island written by Colin Holmes and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-10-16 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is a strong but unreliable view that immigration is a marginal and recent phenomenon. In fact, immigrants and refugees have come to Britain throughout its recorded history. In this book, first published in 1988, Colin Holmes looks at this period in depth and asks: who were the newcomers and why were they coming? What were the distinctive features of their economic and social lives in Britain? How did British society respond to their presence? The resulting book is a major historical survey of immigration which synthesises and evaluates existing work and weaves in new material on a wide range of immigrant minorities.

Download or read book Anglo German relations during the Labour governments 1964 70 written by Terry Macintyre and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2013-07-19 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Speaking at West Point in 1962, Dean Acheson observed that Britain had lost an empire and had still to find a new role. This book explains why, in the following years, as Britain’s Labour government contemplated withdrawal from east of Suez, ministers came to see that Britain’s future role would be as a force within Europe. To this end, and in order to gain entry into the European Economic Community, a close relationship with the Federal Republic of Germany would be essential. This account of Anglo-German relations during the 1960s reveals fascinating insights into how both governments reacted to a series of complex issues and why, despite differences which might have led to strains, a good understanding was maintained. Terry Macintyre’s innovative approach brings together material covering NATO strategy, détente and European integration, making the volume fascinating and essential reading for students and enthusiasts of contemporary British and German political history. This book makes an important contribution to what we know about Cold War history, and should help to redefine some of the views about the relationship between Britain and Germany during the 1960s.

Download or read book Harold Wilson Denmark and the Making of Labour European Policy 1958 72 written by Matthew Broad and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores how the European policies of the British Labour Party and Danish Social Democrats evolved between 1958 and enlargement of the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973, comparing how they each responded to the integration process at key moments and, more innovatively, highlights the impact of informal contacts between them.

Download or read book British Military Withdrawal and the Rise of Regional Cooperation in South East Asia 1964 73 written by S. Thompson and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-12-15 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the links between Britain's withdrawal from its east of Suez role and the establishment of South-East Asian regional security arrangements. The link between these two events is not direct, but a relationship existed, which is important to a wider understanding of the development of regional security arrangements.

Download or read book Elizabeth the Queen written by Sally Bedell Smith and published by Random House. This book was released on 2012-01-10 with total page 721 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This “excellent, all-embracing” (The New York Times) biography of Queen Elizabeth II is a magisterial study of the woman known only from a distance—and a captivating window into her decades-long reign. From the moment of her ascension to the throne in 1952 at the age of twenty-five, Queen Elizabeth II was the object of unparalleled scrutiny. But through the fog of glamour and gossip, how well did we really know the world’s most famous monarch? Drawing on numerous interviews and never-before-revealed documents, acclaimed biographer Sally Bedell Smith pulls back the curtain to show in intimate detail the public and private lives of Queen Elizabeth II, who led her country and Commonwealth through the wars and upheavals of the last twentieth and twenty-first centuries with unparalleled composure, intelligence, and grace. In Elizabeth the Queen, we meet the young girl who suddenly becomes “heiress presumptive” when her uncle abdicates the throne. We meet the thirteen-year-old Lilibet as she falls in love with a young navy cadet named Philip and becomes determined to marry him, even though her parents prefer wealthier English aristocrats. We see the teenage Lilibet repairing army trucks during World War II and standing with Winston Churchill on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on V-E Day. We see the young Queen struggling to balance the demands of her job with her role as the mother of two young children. Sally Bedell Smith brings us inside the palace doors and into the Queen’s daily routines—the “red boxes” of documents she reviewed each day, the weekly meetings she had with twelve prime ministers, her physically demanding tours abroad, and the constant scrutiny of the press—as well as her personal relationships: with her husband, Prince Philip, the love of her life; her children and their often-disastrous marriages; her grandchildren and friends.

Download or read book European Union Enlargement written by Jurgen Elvert and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-08-02 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: European Union Enlargement provides a comparative analysis of the post-war European policies of those states that joined the European Union between 1973 and 1995. The volume draws upon new empirical research in order to investigate the policies that these 'newcomer' states have had towards Europe since 1945, with an emphasis on their experience of membership and its possible Europeanising effect. A final comparative chapter draws the national European policies of the 'newcomers' together and outlines what they have brought to the EU. The book also tests integration theories against the available evidence, demonstrating their limited explanatory value and the economic, political and cultural specificity of different national paths towards EU integration.

Download or read book Alice in Westminster written by Rachel Reeves and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-11-30 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alice Bacon was one of the twentieth-century's most remarkable female politicians. Born and raised in the Yorkshire town of Normanton, she defied the odds to be elected Labour MP for Leeds North East in the 1945 General Election. Famed in her home town for her unlikely love of sports cars, she was a much-respected, no-nonsense, hard-working representative for her beloved Yorkshire home in Westminster. Mentored by Herbert Morrison and Hugh Gaitskell, she rose through the party becoming a Home Office minister under Roy Jenkins and latterly an Education Minister with responsibility for the introduction of comprehensive schools. In the Home Office in the 1960s she oversaw the introduction of substantial societal changes, including the abolition of the death penalty, the decriminalisation of homosexuality and the legalisation of abortion. Her political career spanned some of the most momentous decades in Britain's postwar history and she played an integral part in some of the most significant social, educational and political changes which the country has ever witnessed.Labour MP Rachel Reeves here tells Alice Bacon's story, narrating one woman's extraordinary progression from the coalfields to the Commons.

Download or read book Speedbird written by Robin Higham and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-05-30 with total page 515 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between 1939 and 1946 BOAC (the British Overseas Airways Corporation) was the nationalised airline of Great Britain - and between 1946 and 1974 as such it exclusively operated all long-haul British flights. With its iconic 'Speedbird' logo and its central role in the glamorous 'jet age' of the 1950s and 1960s, BOAC achieved a near cult-status with admirers around the globe. Yet, to date there has been no comprehensive history of the organisation, covering its structure, fleet and the role it played in the critical events of the age - from World War II to the end of empire, a period when BOAC played a pivotal part in projecting British political power, even as that power was waning. During World War II, BOAC operated a limited wartime service and prepared for the return of commercial flight in the postwar era. But it was in the service of Britain's colonies - and latterly the process of decolonisation - that BOAC achieved its most pivotal role. The development of flight technology enabled much faster connections between Britain and her imperial possessions - as the colonies prepared for independence BOAC ferried diplomats, politicians and colonial administrators between London and the far-flung corners of Africa and Asia in much faster times than had previously been possible. In this book, acclaimed historian Robin Higham presents a unique comprehensive study of BOAC from the early jet travel of the de Havilland Comet and the Vickers VC10 to the dawn of supersonic passenger aviation. Highly illustrated and meticulously researched using previously unseen sources, this book will be essential reading for all aviation enthusiasts and anyone interested in the history of modern Britain.

Download or read book Richard Crossman written by Victoria Honeyman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2007-12-19 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Yes, Minister! No, Minister! If you wish it, Minister!" - Richard Crossman, "Diaries Vol. 1". As a politician and personality, Richard Crossman was anything but the deferential public servant he mocked so concisely. This revealing biography of the dedicated radical Labour politician offers the most complete picture of his colourful life and demonstrates many fascinating connections between his political thinking and the formation of New Labour. Richard Crosssman served as an MP from 1945 until shortly before his death in 1974 and is remembered as a fiery speaker, dedicated leftist and author of the controversial three-volume "Diaries of a Cabinet Minister" - published in the face of strong legal opposition from the government.This comprehensive new biography explores the connections between his personal history and his political convictions. His life not only highlights a formative period in British politics but also gives insights into contemporary British politics. Crossman's life not only highlights a formative period in British politics, but also gives insights into contemporary British politics. Weaving together the private and public, Honeyman unveils a politician who fought with dedication for his political beliefs while persistently trying to shake up the organisation of the Labour party. Over the course of his twenty-five years in Parliament, Crossman held various position, including Leader of the House of Commons, Chairman of the Labour Party, and Secretary of State for Social Services.In this new biography, Victoria Honeyman places Crossman in the context of his party and his times while also examining his impact on the development of the Labour party. Often dismissed as fickle, this portrait of Crossman reveals an intellectual politician who worked with conviction for the improvment of his party and country. His life not only highlights a formative period in British politics, but also gives insights into contemporary British politics. Crossman's chief interests included social democracy, international relations and constitutional reform. This biography details his tireless work on these issues and assesses his impact. Rather than the Crossman of popular myth, Honeyman has uncovered a dedicated politician who made serious intellectual contributions to his party's policy and whose influence is still felt today. This biography is essential reading for anyone interested in British contemporary political history.