The Cripps Version: The Life Of Sir Stafford Cripps, 1889-1952

by P.F. Clarke

Like many 20th-century politicians of note, Cripps had the dubious honour of an epigram from "There, but for the grace of God, goes God". The wit of the remark is in its accurate summation of Cripps' talents, and the personal failings that were to deprive him of the highest office. His image is associated with austerity - he was a vegetarian, a tee-totaller, a devout Christian, and very easy to caricature. Beginning his professional life as a lawyer, Cripps went on to become ambassador of Russia in 1940. In 1942 he was sent as special envoy to India; the report he wrote was to prove a watershed on that country's road to independence. In Labour's post-war administration, Cripps was President of the Board of Trade, and from 1947-50 Chancellor of the Exchequer. This biography was written with comlete access to Cripps' private and public papers.

Genres: Biography, Politics

592 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Dr. Peter Frederick Clarke was Professor of Modern British History from 1991 to 2004 at Cambridge University and Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, from 2000 to 2004. He completed his BA in 1963, his MA and PhD in 1967, and his LittD in 1989 all at Cambridge University. A Fellow of the British Academy, he reviews books regularly for The Times Literary Supplement, the London Review of Books and the Sunday Times.

Reviews

[Tanis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't finish this, to be honest I didn't even make it to 100 pages. I got bored and life's too short.

[Adam Sadler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me 7 years to read at various stretches of time and effort. It's amazingly detailed and super interesting but it is also dense and dry