Roy Jenkins

"In this wide ranging lecture, Lord Roy Jenkins tells the story of the rise and fall of the British Liberal Party under prime ministers Gladstone, Churchill, Asquith, and Lloyd George, and explores the place of current British prime minister Tony Blair in this tradition. Beginning his address with the Liberal Party's birth in London in 1859, Lord Jenkins discusses the relative success of these prime ministers in dealing with social issues, such as religion and suffrage, and aspects of government legislation including education, foreign policy, and the military. He punctuates this analysis with his views on the personalities of these men, recognizing that the character of leaders naturally shapes their leadership. Of William Ewart Gladstone, for example, Lord Jenkins notes that, while he was 'not necessarily the greatest prime minister,' Gladstone was 'certainly the most remarkable specimen of humanity ever to inhabit 10 Downing Street.'"--BOOK JACKET.

This text provides a fascinating insight into the heart of politics over the last two hundred years and furthers our understanding of one of the most significant political roles in British government.

"Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Baronet PC (4 September 1843 ? 26 January 1911) was an English Liberal and reformist politician. Touted as a future prime minister, his aspirations to higher political office were effectively terminated in 1885, after a notorious and well-publicised divorce case....Dilke's younger brother Ashton Wentworth Dilke married May Eustace Smith, the eldest daughter of Liberal politician and shipowner Thomas Eustace Smith and his wife Ellen in 1876. Sir Charles Dilke became Ellen's lover, a relationship which continued after his marriage in 1884. In July 1885, however, he was accused of seducing the Eustace Smiths' daughter Virginia in the first year of her marriage to Donald Crawford MP. This was supposed to have occurred in 1882 when Virginia was 19, and she claimed that the affair had continued on an irregular basis for the next two and a half years."--Wikipedia.

"Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC (12 September 1852 ? 15 February 1928) served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the longest continuously serving Prime Minister in the 20th century until 5 January 1988."--Wikipedia.