Churchill on the home front, 1900-1955 - Paul Addison

Winston Churchill's place in history as an orator, war leader and international statesman is secure. Far less attention has been given to his ideas about the development of Britain's national life at home. No other politician has crossed the floor of the House of Commons twice and gone on to become prime minister. Yet it is the narrow view, Addison argues, to see Churchill's performance on the home front as merely that of an egoistic opportunist, employing his gift for rhetoric to keep centre stage regardless of principle.;In his youth an Edwardian liberal, in middle-age a supporter of the far right, few regarded him as anything but an old-fashioned figure when, unexpectedly, he returned to the centre of British politics in 1940. Yet few today can deny the impact made by his vision of Britain.;This critical assessment attempts to reconcile opposing views of Churchill's performance on the home front, and its lasting consequences on the social fabric, economic fortunes and lively democracy of modern Britain. By the author of "The Road to 1945" and "Now the War is Over".