New Books In Biography

As Labour Party leader, member of Winston Churchill’s governing coalition during the Second World War, and prime minister of the epochal postwar government that established the welfare state, Clement Attlee played a decisive role in the history of modern Britain. In Clement Attlee: The Man Who Made Modern Britain (Oxford University Press, 2017; published in the UK as Citizen Clem), John Bew recounts the life and career of this modest yet deeply patriotic individual who dedicated his life to improving the condition of his fellow Britons. The son of a successful lawyer, Attlee enjoyed a comfortable upbringing until a trip to London’s East End exposed him to the degree of poverty in which many Britons lived. Dedicating himself to social work, he lived in the London slums until the outbreak of war in 1914 led him to volunteer for service. After the war he was elected to the House of Commons, where he often was overshadowed by the more dynamic personalities among his colleagues. Despite this, he weathered the tumu