Baldwin: A Biography

by Keith Middlemas, John Barnes

Stanley Baldwin dominated British politics for fourteen years and was one of the major Conservative prime ministers of the century, but past historians have either ignored or denigrated him. Yet it is hardly possible to understand the political history of Britain between the wars without a correct reading of his character and achievements. In foreign policy Baldwin had to contend with Mussolini's invasion of Italy, the Spanish Civil War, the rise of Hitler; at home, the General Strike, mass unemployment, the Abdication crisis. Barnes and Middlemas have viewed his political career in the light of the social history of the period by extensive use of political diaries, memoirs and private papers. The vast and largely untapped documentary evidence available to the authors included the newly opened Cabinet archives, and they have made full use of this material to produce a radical reassessment of Baldwin and his age - and an outstanding essay in political biography.

Genres: History, Biography, Politics

1149 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stanley Baldwin was the most important political figure in Great Britain in the years between the two World Wars. He literally came out of nowhere, for years he was Parliamentary backbencher and
then junior minister in the Lloyd George Coalition government. Through a combination of circumstances that are two long and intricate to go through he became Prime Minister in 1923 and
headed two other Conservative governments before retiring in 1937 after the abdication crisis. After World War II because it was felt he did not sufficiently prepare the United Kingdom for the
coming of Fascism, he was denigrated especially by Winston Churchill worshipers. Keith Middlemas
and John Barnes in this painstakingly researched 1000+ page biography have reappraised Baldwin
somewhat with a balanced perspective of his career.

Baldwin led his country through a General Strike in the mid Twenties without resorting to use of the
military in settling labor disputes. He also was the lynchpin of the National Government coalition
from 1931 to 1935 and then headed a Tory ministry, his last from 1935 to 1937 that guided Britain
through the Great Depression. He was also farsighted enough to want to grant India independance, but was frustrated by the Imperialists in his own party, among them Winston Churchill.

A little knowledge of the British political scene in those years is probably essential to reading
this book, otherwise I recommend it highly.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

The man was fascinatingly ordinary. I also learned that Baldwin weaponized nostalgia and pretended that Britain had no empire.

[Clayton Brannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to imagine that this book will ever be surpassed in details about Stanley Baldwin. It not only covers his personal life but his political life as well. A must read for anyone not only interested in Baldwin but also the 1920s and 1930s of English history. Rich in detail about the man who may have been the greatest politician of the 20th century.