This book provides an analysis of some of the debates surrounding the history of the British Labour Party, providing students with guidance to the issues and identifying the ways in which the recent availability of new sources has changed the balance of argument and understanding.
Issues in Labour history; the rise of Labour and the decline of
Liberalism, 1890-1918; the impact of war, 1914-1918; "Expectation born to
death" - the Labour Party, 1918-29; "Lucifer of the left" - Ramsay Macdonald
and the collapse of the second Labour government, 1929-31; the revival and
triumph of Labour, 1931-45; Labour in office, 1945-51; the crisis in the
Labour party, 1951-79.