TEMPESTUOUS JOURNEY: Lloyd George, His Life & Times

by Frank Owen ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 18, 1955

This is a definitive life of the man of whom, on his death in 1945, Winston Churchill said: ""When the English history of the first quarter of the 20th century is written, it will be seen that the greater part of our fortunes in peace and war were shaped by this one man"". Since then four full length biographies have appeared. This is immense in scope (765 pages, 41 photographs) is not merely a comprehensive history of the great Welshman's strange, stormy life, public and private, but a surprisingly vivid account of the world he lived in and his impress on events. Brought up by a widowed mother and a cobbler uncle, driven by ambition, Welsh love of education and hero worship of Abraham Lincoln, he was already a lawyer at 21, a contributor to the local newspaper of political articles under the name ""Brutus"", married at 25 and elected to Parliament at 27. The biographer gives an inside picture of the fight for Welsh nationalism, for Irish Home Rule, the tragedy of Parnell, Gladstone and Asquith, the oer War. Proved against these years, Lloyd George became a Cabinet minister at 42, and at 45 was Chancellor of the Exchequer. With World War I he became Prime Minister. The history and the usually dull Parliamentary intrigue take on the fascination of fiction. One turns the pages for the ""story"", the share played by the hero. Mr. Owen had access to the Lloyd George archives, to Lord Beaverbrook's papers, to previously unpublished Churchill material. And from this mass of research he has written an important work of exciting narrative, absorbing material, thorough detail and drama, a work, indeed, that might well he a model for future biographers. This deserves a wide market.

Pub Date: April 18, 1955

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1955

Categories: NONFICTION