LDO
Bookshop: Biography
Welcome to the Biography Section of the LDO bookshop. This provides a selection of biographies of leading British Liberals and Liberal Democrats.
Paddy
Ashdown : The Ashdown Diaries: Volume 1: 1988-1997
Paddy
Ashdown : The Ashdown Diaries: Volume 2: 1997-1999
Read the book everyone is talking about (at least in the LibDems)!
Roy
Jenkins: Gladstone
A great read about a truly amazing man. Gladstone would be an astonishing
figure in any age.
John
Grigg: Lloyd George - volume 1 - the young Lloyd George
John
Grigg: Lloyd George - volume 2 - the people's champion
John
Grigg: Lloyd George - volume 3 - from peace to war
John
Grigg: Lloyd George - volume 4 - war leader
Excellent series of books about the greatest Liberal Prime Minister of the
20th century.
Dictionary
of Liberal Biography
Short biographies of most Liberal Party dignitaries throughout history.
Bill
Rodgers: Fourth among equals
New (and well-reviewed) biography of one of the four founders of the SDP.
Jeremy
Thorpe: In my own time
Jeremy Thorpe recalls important events and episodes from his life in politics.
Occasionally selective, but interesting none the less.
A
life at the centre: Roy Jenkins
Roy Jenkins' autobiography. Fascinating account of his time in the Labour
Party and the Cabinet, his term as President of the EU Commission and the
events surrounding the rise and fall of the SDP.
Beyond
Westminster: Paddy Ashdown MP
A great example of why Paddy Ashdown was such a great party leader: the story
of his travels away from Westminster to spend time listening to people across
the UK.
Mark
Bonham Carter & Mark Pottle: Lantern Slides - The Diaries and Letters of Violet
Bonham Carter 1904-1914
Violet Bonham Carter was Asquith's daughter and a doyenne of the Liberal Party
in her own right. This first of two volumes gives an amazing insight into
the great reforming Liberal government of 1906-10, and the events leading
up to WWI.
Mark
Pottle: Champion Redoubtable - The Diaries and Letters of Violet Bonham Carter
1914-45
Violet Bonham Carter was Asquith's daughter and a doyenne of the Liberal Party
in her own right. This second of two volumes covers the first world war, the
split between Asquith and LLoyd George, and the decline of the Liberal Party
in the inter-war years.
Gerald
De Groot: Liberal Crusader - the life of Sir Archibald Sinclair
Sinclair is one of the forgotten Leaders of the Liberal Party. He played a
central part in Liberal politics between the wars, and served as Air Minister
throughout WWII. This biography throws new light on a series of events, from
the Asquith/Lloyd George split, through the Liberals' mixed reaction to the
National Government of the early 1930s, and the appeasement crisis and events
in WWII.
Comments? Suggestions? Please e-mail martin.tod@btinternet.com with your ideas.