- Paperback: 816 pages
- Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks; New edition edition (6 May 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0192853562
- ISBN-13: 978-0192853561
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.4 x 4.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 598,073 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Product Description
'Callaghan is a symbol of our present age as well as our past, New Labour as well as Old. He links the age of Clem Attlee and that of Tony Blair.' Kenneth Morgan 'This is a classic political life, critical, well-balanced, compellingly written' Brian Brivati, The Times 'It is hard to see how the book could have been better done' Alan Watkins, The Spectator 'A superb portrait and a fascinating work of historical scholarship that will become a classic text' Ben Pimlott, The Guardian 'Callaghan was regarded as the epitome of the Labour Party's right-wing establishment. Yet Kenneth Morgan's biography reveals him to be far more interesting and far more complex than that.' Gerald Kaufman, Daily Telegraph This fascinating biography, written by leading historian Kenneth Morgan, tells the story of a man who had a unique political career. Starting in humble circumstances, James Callaghan went on to hold all the major offices of state: Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, and, for three tumultuous years, from 1976 to 1979, Prime Minister. This meticulously researched study takes the reader from the age of Attlee to the days of New Labour under Blair.
About the Author
Professor Kenneth Morgan is former Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and Honorary Fellow of the Queen's College, Oxford.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
LIKE Winston Churchill and perhaps with more justification, Jim Callaghan could have adopted the description 'former naval person'. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
LIKE Winston Churchill and perhaps with more justification, Jim Callaghan could have adopted the description 'former naval person'. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having enjoyed Callaghan's own biography 'Time and Chance', I read this book with keen interest to find out more about a man who I felt had been let down by his own supporters. The book is compssionate towards its subject, authoritative with the events it deals with and adds considerably to recent Labour history.
It is observed by the author that James Callaghan spans the Old and New Labour ideologues. This is a good assessment. Callaghan strides the period of nationalisation, which turns to militancy, and a disorganised party and an unelectable cabinet. In the next few years of leadership 'Callaghan: A Life' covers Callaghan resisting the radicals, such as Benn and Foot, which starts the long transition to the New Party of Tony Blair.
All in all, a worthy study that captures the human side of the struggle one man had against a Union dominated party. Well worth reading!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
A good read
13 Jan 1999
Format:Hardcover
James Callaghans political life covers so much ground over such a period of time,that even at 750 pages this is a breezy read. It enscapsulates an interesting and significant period of Britains history and this well written biography neatly captures the feel of these times. Callaghan's premiership has often been perhaps judged rather too harsely with the memories of the final period, rather than earlier acheivements being to the forefront of most peoples minds. this attempts to be a revisionist biography and in truth the author is a little too reverential towards and uncritical of his subject.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Readable but lacks drama and context
14 Dec 2000
Format:Hardcover
Callaghan was in some ways a pivotal political figure. He not only lead the Labour party to a critical defeat which not only saw the conservatives dominate Britain for a record period but his loss of office led to the destruction of everything he stood for. That is the union movement, Britain's place as a manufacturing nation and the notion of the labour party being a working class movement.
The writer of the book has been absorbed by Callaghan's career and has come to like him (as did most of the British Electorate). His biography thus lacks a sense of the tragedy of Callaghan's life and the failure of his Prime Minister Ship and the desolation which resulted.
Instead we get a picture of a man on the right of the labour movement who was a decent man and tried in his political career to stand for what he thought was right.
A readable biography which looks to much at the man and perhaps not enough at the political context.
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