Bevan

Life & Times

by Francis Beckett, Ian Pindar (editor)

Aneurin Nye Bevan (1897-1960) was the man who created the National Health Service, the crowning achievement of post-second-world-war Labor government. The son of a miner from Monmouthshire, Wales, he became a local trade union leader at only 19, and won a scholarship to the Central Labour College in London. In 1929, he was elected a Labour MP. Bevan believed that the war was Britain’s opportunity to create a new society, a position he maintained throughout the war. When the war ended, in 1945, the landslide Labor victory gave him the chance to help create it.

Genres: Politics, Biography, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2004

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five stars for the life and three for the biographer.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 2004 with a second edition in 2024. It will be appreciated by many who watched “Nye” at the National Theatre or associated cinema screenings. Bevan has always been one of my heroes, for his creation of the NHS and post WWII council housing.
I do wonder though whether these words were written for the 2004 or 2024 edition.
“Today it is difficult to imagine a Britain in which it is impossible to have hospital treatment…The illnesses caused by squalor, malnutrition and dirt are no longer common. It is assumed that most people…will have a roof over their head and adequate health care.”

[Isla · Rating 4 out of 5]

what a man!

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and balanced, avoids falling into the 'hero worship' trap that many biographies can.

[Rhys Morris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quality of the writing isn’t great and leans heavily on a few other accounts which are probably more worth reading.

Doesn’t take away from the man himself, who changed this country for the better massively

[Jordan Phizacklea-Cullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief, comprehensive and fair-minded overview of possibly Britain's greatest socialist, with a good selection of photographs throughout to illustrate.