Neville Chamberlain Diary Letters

As a primary source of historical evidence and insight, it is difficult to overstate the value and importance of Neville Chamberlain's diary letters to his sisters. They represent the most complete and illuminating 'insider' record of British politics between the wars yet to be published. From 1915, Chamberlain wrote detailed weekly epistles to his sisters until this death in 1940; a confidential account of events covering the quarter of a century during which he stood at the very centre of Conservative and national politics. Beyond the fascination of the historical record of people and events, these letters are extremely valuable for the remarkable light they throw upon the personality and character of the private man lurking behind the austerely forbidding public persona. This four volume set provides a complete collection of Chamberlain's letters to his sisters, and will prove an invaluable tool for anyone interested in national or international events during the inter-war years. Volume one covers the crucial formative period from Chamberlain's election as Lord Mayor of Birmingham, through his ill-fated emergence on the national stage as head of the newly-created Department of National Service in 1917 to his entry to the Commons at the age of fifty where as a backbencher he swiftly established a claim to advancement. Volume two covers the reform years of 1921-27; including Chamberlain's backbench frustrations and disappointments; the decline and fall of the Coalition government in 1922; Chamberlain's rapid ministerial ascent during 1923 from Postmaster-General to Minister of Health and then Chancellor of the Exchequer all in the course of nine months; his role in opposition when formulating the 'New Conservatism' in 1924 and his spectacular progress in implementing that vision in a wide-ranging programme of social reform after his return to the Ministry of Health in November of that year. Volume three covers the years 1928-33 when Chamberlain rose through the ranks of the Conservative party to become the heir apparent to the leadership. The letters analyse his successful battle for the reform of the Poor Law and local government; his pivotal role during the party crisis after electoral defeat in 1929; the financial crisis and the formation of the National Government in 1931; and the crucial role Chamberlain played as Chancellor of the Exchequer during the worst of the Great Depression when laying the foundations of the National Government's economic policy. It also throws important light on other issues such as Chamberlain's efforts to resolve the thorny problem of Anglo-American war debts and his mission to fulfil his father's frustrated imperial vision when negotiating tariff preferences at the Imperial Economic Conference at Ottawa. Volume four covers the years 1934-40 during which Chamberlain rose to succeed Stanley Baldwin as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party in May 1937. These letters reveal clearly the logic behind Chamberlain's overwhelming sense of mission in pursuing an agreement with the dictators in order to avert the very real danger of war on three fronts; a quest which culminated in the illusory triumph of the Munich conference and 'Peace for our time' in September 1938. Chamberlain's pivotal role in all of the momentous international crises of 1938 and 1939 are covered in detail, along with discussion of his views on war, appeasement, Britain's military position and Hitler's intensions. The book concludes with the events of 1939-40; the declaration of war, the 'Phoney War' and its tragic miscalculations, Chamberlain's dramatic fall from the Premiership and the final months in Churchill's war cabinet before his death in November 1940.