The Strange Survival of Liberal Britain: Politics and Power Before the First World War

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There could be no more complete and comprehensive political history of the two decades before the Great War than he has compiled … A crucial and fascinating period in British history made intelligible.” Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph Vernon Bogdanor’s comprehensive history of the 30 years preceding the First World War is a history of policy making, rather than just of politics. The drama is there, but so also is the solid content. This is, in every sense, a big book, and rewards the reader who wants to understand why some problems never seem to be fully solved.” John Bruton, Irish Examiner

If you think you know the British political scene from 1895 to 1914, think again. Vernon Bogdanor has the habit of unearthing gems that have been missed by others. He does it again in this magisterial work on post-Gladstonian Britain by challenging some of the long-established myths about this period that deserve to be cast aside.” Professor Malcolm Murfett, King’s College London Brexit, declared Labour pro-European, Roy Jenkins, during the first European referendum campaign in 1975, would put Britain into “an old people’s home for fading nations”. He added, “I do not think it would be a very comfortable old people’s home. I do not like the look of some of the prospective wardens”. Of the three wardens since 2016, Theresa May fell because her Brexit deal was unacceptable to Conservatives, and replaced by Boris Johnson to “get Brexit done”. Then Trussonomics sought to prove the viability of Global Britain outside the EU. I loved the whole atmosphere of the Oxford Literary Festival. From breakfast, alongside some of the attendees, who were talking books with each other a mile a minute, to the public event at The Sheldonian where everyone was lively and engaged – I felt I had arrived in a kind of literary heaven.It is a law of economic gravity that we trade more with nearby countries than with those more distant. As David Cameron pointed out during the referendum campaign, we trade more with Ireland than with Brazil, Russia, India and China combined.

LSE has now introduced wireless for guests and visitors in association with 'The Cloud', also in use at many other locations across the UK. If you are on campus visiting for the day or attending a conference or event, you can connect your device to wireless. See more information and create an account at Join the Cloud. Imperial Conference on the Subject of the Defence of the Empire 1909, Imperial Conference Secretariat, October 1909, CO886/2, p.24-28 The period has often been seen as one of decadence, of the strange death of liberal Britain. In contrast, Vernon Bogdanor believes that the robustness of Britain’s parliamentary and political institutions and her liberal political culture, with the commitment to rational debate and argument, were powerful enough to carry her through one of the most trying periods of her history and so make possible the remarkable survival of liberal Britain. The night in Oxford was the most beautiful event I have ever done. Not just the spectacular setting (of the Sheldonian), but an unforgettable evening.

I would hope that people will see the period as one of creative fertility rather than as one of decadence and as a disappointing coda to the mid-Victorian era. Vernon Bogdanor CBE is professor of government at the Institute of Contemporary British History, King’s College London. He is a fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Historical Society and the Academy of Social Sciences and an honorary fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. John S. Galbraith, The British South Africa Company and the Jamerson Raid, Journal of British Studies, Vol. 10. No. 1, November 1970, pp. 145 – 161

A stimulating and rewarding on-stage conversation; a lively informed and tolerant audience; privileged access to the great treasures of the Bodleian, and finally, wonderfully interesting dinner companions to help me conclude the best day I have enjoyed at any festival – anywhere.

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their intelligence – this makes a huge difference for a speaker. In the Oxford audience I encountered many experts in the field my book covered and even one of the ambassadors I’d quoted I came away buzzing and reassured that we still have in this century a wide ranging community fascinated not just by famous authors (I’ve rarely seen so many concentrated in one place) but by challenging ideas and questions. Joseph Chamberlain – to ask what he would do today to modernise Britain. Winston Churchill – because, like Chamberlain, he had such energy and originality. I would ask him too how he would modernise Britain. A. Odendaal, The Founders: The origins of the ANC and the struggle for democracy in South Africa, Jacana Media, 2012.