Citizen Clem

WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING

WINNER OF THE ELIZABETH LONGFORD PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY

Book of the year: The Times, Sunday Times, New Statesman, Spectator, Evening Standard

'Outstanding . . . We still live in the society that was shaped by Clement Attlee' Robert Harris, Sunday Times

'The best book in the field of British politics' Philip Collins, The Times

'Easily the best single-volume, cradle-to-grave life of Clement Attlee yet written' Andrew Roberts

Clement Attlee was the Labour prime minister who presided over Britain's radical postwar government, delivering the end of the Empire in India, the foundation of the NHS and Britain's place in NATO. Called 'a sheep in sheep's clothing', his reputation has long been that of an unassuming character in the shadow of Churchill. But as John Bew's revelatory biography shows, Attlee was not only a hero of his age, but an emblem of it; and his life tells the story of how Britain changed over the twentieth century.

Here, Bew pierces Attlee's reticence to examine the intellect and beliefs of Britain's greatest - and least appreciated - peacetime prime minister. This edition includes a new preface by the author in response to the 2017 general election.

Winner of Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography 2017
Winner of Parliamentary Book Awards: Best Political Book by a non-Parliamentarian 2016
Short-listed for Orwell Prize 2017

“We need another Attlee more than ever . In the absence of which, we have Bew's brilliant book - ProspectThis book is a rare beast - political biography at its finest, yet one that is deeply moving - Times Higher Education SupplementHe has written with verve and confidence a first-rate life of a man whom he correctly argues has been under-appreciated. What a life, and what a man - The TimesFascinating . . . He writes with flair and considerable intellectual confidence - Financial TimesExceptional . . . The brilliant young historian John Bew urges Labour to recapture something of the ethos of the Attlee period - TelegraphBoth a magnificent renewal of the art of political biography and a monument to the greatest leader the Labour party has ever had - Judge of the Orwell PrizeWill become required reading for the present-day Labour party - Observer A masterful portrait of a man who arguably did more than any other UK politician to shape the postwar world - New Statesman”

We need another Attlee more than ever. In the absence of which, we have Bew's brilliant book - Prospect

This book is a rare beast - political biography at its finest, yet one that is deeply moving - Times Higher Education Supplement

He has written with verve and confidence a first-rate life of a man whom he correctly argues has been under-appreciated. What a life, and what a man - The Times

Fascinating . . . He writes with flair and considerable intellectual confidence - Financial Times

Exceptional . . . The brilliant young historian John Bew urges Labour to recapture something of the ethos of the Attlee period - Telegraph

Both a magnificent renewal of the art of political biography and a monument to the greatest leader the Labour party has ever had - Judge of the Orwell Prize

Will become required reading for the present-day Labour party - Observer

A masterful portrait of a man who arguably did more than any other UK politician to shape the postwar world - New Statesman

John Bew teaches History and Foreign Policy at the War Studies Department at King's College London. He was the winner of the 2015 Philip Leverhulme Prize for outstanding achievement in Politics and International Studies and previously held the Henry Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress in Washington DC. John is a contributing writer at the New Statesman and the author of five books, including the critically-acclaimed Realpolitik: A History and Castlereagh. He was born in Belfast, educated at Cambridge, and lives in Wimbledon, London.

WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING WINNER OF THE ELIZABETH LONGFORD PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY Book of the year: The Times, Sunday Times, New Statesman, Spectator, Evening Standard 'Outstanding . . . We still live in the society that was shaped by Clement Attlee' Robert Harris, Sunday Times 'The best book in the field of British politics ' Philip Collins, The Times 'Easily the best single-volume, cradle-to-grave life of Clement Attlee yet written' Andrew Roberts Clement Attlee was the Labour prime minister who presided over Britain's radical postwar government, delivering the end of the Empire in India, the foundation of the NHS and Britain's place in NATO. Called 'a sheep in sheep's clothing', his reputation has long been that of an unassuming character in the shadow of Churchill. But as John Bew's revelatory biography shows, Attlee was not only a hero of his age, but an emblem of it; and his life tells the story of how Britain changed over the twentieth century. Here, Bew pierces Attlee's reticence to examine the intellect and beliefs of Britain's greatest - and least appreciated - peacetime prime minister. This edition includes a new preface by the author in response to the 2017 general election.

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