Lloyd George

David Lloyd George was Britain’s Prime Minister between 1916 and 1922. By the end of 1916 there was discontent with Herbert Henry Asquith’s management of the war and Lloyd George schemed secretly with the Conservatives in the coalition government to take his place as Prime Minister. The main issue of the postwar years was Ireland, where Lloyd George brought to a partial end the long-running problem of Home Rule by giving independence in 1921 to the Irish Free State. After a clear Conservative victory in the election of 1922, Lloyd George never again  held office.

HUGH PURCELL worked a producer for BBC radio and television. His previous books include Fascism, The Spanish Civil War, Revolutionary War and a biography of Tom Wintringham, The Last English Revolutionary. He is a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.