The Wild Men: The Remarkable Story of Britain's First Labour Government -- A Waterstones Book of the Year 2024
Autor David Torranceen Limba Engleză Paperback – 16 ian 2025
Această monografie istorică, publicată într-o ediție revizuită pentru a marca centenarul guvernării din 1924, oferă o perspectivă detaliată asupra momentului în care structura puterii de la Westminster a fost zdruncinată de ascensiunea clasei muncitoare. Remarcăm modul în care David Torrance împletește biografia politică cu analiza instituțională, documentând parcursul unor figuri precum Ramsay MacDonald, fiul nelegitim al unui muncitor agricol, sau John Wheatley, fost miner, care au trecut de la periferia societății direct în funcții ministeriale.
Structura volumului este organizată tematic și biografic, dedicând capitole specifice miniștrilor-cheie și provocărilor lor: de la mandatul de ministru de externe al lui MacDonald, până la eforturile lui Charles Trevelyan în educație. Această abordare permite cititorului să înțeleagă nu doar ideologia de partid, ci și pragmatismul administrativ necesar într-un context marcat de instabilitate electorală. Cititorii familiarizați cu The Men of 1924 de Peter Clark vor aprecia aici profunzimea analizei constituționale, Torrance folosindu-și experiența de cercetător la Biblioteca Camerei Comunelor pentru a explica mecanismele prin care establishment-ul britanic a încercat să asimileze sau să respingă acești „oameni sălbatici”.
Spre deosebire de lucrările sale anterioare, precum A History of the Scottish Labour Party, unde accentul cădea pe evoluția regională, The Wild Men plasează experiența laburistă într-un context național și imperial. Autorul reușește să demonstreze cum această primă administrație, deși scurtă și controversată, a pus bazele statului social modern, oferind o genealogie necesară pentru înțelegerea politicii britanice contemporane.
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Specificații
ISBN-10: 1399411470
Pagini: 352
Ilustrații: 8 pages of black and white images
Dimensiuni: 130 x 196 x 24 mm
Greutate: 0.3 kg
Ediția:Revised
Editura: Bloomsbury Publishing
Colecția Bloomsbury Continuum
Locul publicării:London, United Kingdom
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De ce să citești această carte
O lectură esențială pentru cei interesați de istoria politică și transformările sociale ale secolului XX. The Wild Men nu este doar o cronică a unui guvern, ci o poveste despre mobilitate socială și curaj politic. Cititorul câștigă o înțelegere profundă a modului în care identitatea de clasă a modelat guvernarea britanică, totul sub semnătura unui istoric reputat, într-un format îmbogățit cu fotografii de arhivă.
Despre autor
David Torrance este un scriitor liber-profesionist, jurnalist și specialist în istorie constituțională, colaborând frecvent cu Biblioteca Camerei Comunelor din Marea Britanie. Cu o experiență vastă în analiza politicii scoțiene și britanice, Torrance a publicat numeroase biografii politice și studii de referință, printre care Whatever Happened to Tory Scotland? și Standing Up for Scotland. Expertiza sa academică, dublată de activitatea de comentator politic pentru publicații precum The Scotsman, îi conferă autoritatea necesară pentru a trata subiecte complexe precum evoluția partidelor politice și dinamica puterii la cel mai înalt nivel în Regatul Unit.
Descriere
A century ago, a Labour government took power for the first time. Meet the "Wild Men" who led the way...
'Superb' -- New Statesman
'Fascinating' -- The Sunday Times.
In 1923, the passing of the Act which gave all men the vote opened the door for a radically different sort of government: men from working-class backgrounds who had never before occupied the corridors of power at Westminster. Who were these 'wild men'? Ramsay MacDonald, their leader and Labour's first Prime Minster, was the illegitimate son of a Scottish farm labourer; Arthur Henderson was a Scottish iron moulder; J. H. Thomas, a Welsh railwayman; John Wheatley, an Irish-born miner and publican; and William Adamson, a Fife coal miner.
The Wild Men - this new edition with a fully updated preface - tells the story of that first Labour administration - its unexpected birth, fraught existence, and controversial downfall - through the eyes of those who found themselves in the House of Commons, running the country for the people. Blending biography and history into a compelling narrative, David Torrance reassesses the UK's first Labour government a century after it shook up a British establishment still reeling from the War - and how the establishment eventually fought back.
This is an extraordinary period in British political history which echoes down the years to our current politics and laid the foundations for the Britain of today.
Cuprins
1 'A serious national misfortune'
2 'The most horrible job in my life'
3 Ramsay MacDonald as Prime Minister: 'A mass of contradictions'
4 Arthur Henderson: 'Uncle Arthur'
5 John Wheatley: 'A traditional Mr. Pickwick'
6 Philip Snowden: 'A free breakfast table'
7 Charles Trevelyan: 'Secondary education for all'
8 'Rabbits out of a hat'
9 William Adamson: 'Far from revolutionary'
10 Jimmy Thomas: 'No mucking about with the British Empire'
11 Viscount Haldane: Tidying Up the Constitution
12 Ramsay MacDonald as Foreign Secretary: Creating a New Atmosphere
13 Sir Patrick Hastings: 'By whose representation?'
14 The 'Red Letter' Election
15 Whither the Wild Men?
16 Reassessing Britain's First Labour Government
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
The Labour Government (22 January-4 November 1924)
Timeline of the First Labour Government
Endnotes
Picture Credits
Index
Recenzii
Thoroughly researched. The Wild Men brings superbly to life figures whom history should not have forgotten.
A highly readable, enjoyable and informative book.
A meticulously researched collective biography.
Excellent
Superb
An engrossing account of the perilous course charted by Ramsay MacDonald. David Torrance illuminates all of this brilliantly.
Torrance tells an absorbing, meticulous and balanced story.
Torrance tells the story of each of this engrossing era's main principals in a series of crisp, meticulously researched chapters. It was a fascinating period, and this is a timely, even racy account.
David Torrance's lucid account, The Wild Men, tells a lot of the story through a series of well-crafted and elegantly written mini-biographies of the leading players, a good device for navigating a turbulent period of complex events and issues.
In The Wild Men David Torrance, a biographer and clerk at the House of Commons, tells the story of MacDonald's rise and the first Labour government, its people, policies and purpose, with sympathy and fastidious attention to detail. His reading and research are exemplary.. [A] fascinating portrait.
Lively, interesting [and] based on an impressive amount of archival research. A highly readable guide to a landmark historical episode.
With meticulous reconstruction and careful judgement, this is a fascinating piece of work with some intriguing parallels for our own times.
Torrance's book is (and I don't think I have ever described a political history book in these words) riveting. It is a joy to read; it is highly illuminating; it is - to me - a revelation.
Deeply researched.
A timely reappraisal of a momentous period in British politics.
Tightly focussed. even-handed. [an] in-depth study.
An accessible, entertaining and well-researched history. It is a welcome study of a period that should be better known. A collection of rich portraits of the leading figures of the government . Torrance has skilfully brought the history of the first Labour government alive.
Admirable, thoroughly researched and very readable account. Torrance offers rich character sketches and takes us through the often difficult history of the government with exemplary skill.
An insightful, analytical study.. Torrance has conducted some superb and dogged research into previously overlooked archives.
Rooted in robust research, David Torrance's new book casts fresh light on Britain's first Labour government.
Much to inform and delight. the book is framed as a series of portraits of the main players and reflects much detailed new research. It is well written, easy to read and will prove an important historical resource.
Authoritative.A compelling account of the first Labour administration.
A fine historical prompt.There is much that [Keir Starmer] - and we - can learn from [the first Labour government].
The great strength of the work lies in the biographical studies of "The Wild Men" themselves, especially the chapters devoted to the Prime Minister.
Torrance.makes excellent use of material from the Royal Archives.
The Wild Men does a good job of shedding light on a key turning point in British political history, while small details such as the attempt to get ministers to continue appearing before the king in "gold embroidered coat, cocked hat and sword" remind us how hidebound parts of the politics system still were.
David Torrance's thoroughly-researched and scholarly history shows how Ramsay MacDonald and co managed to defy the political odds and (briefly) lead our first Labour government.