This biography of Britain's first Labour prime minister, James Ramsay MacDonald (1866-1937), draws widely from new material in the MacDonald Papers, interviews, government documents, and private papers of political contemporaries and family members. Credited with creating a national and parliamentary Labour Party that formed two governments, MacDonald was expelled from the party when he agreed to form a National Government in 1931. The author presents a critical and often provocative analysis of the life of an illegitimate child born in humble circumstances who rose to become prime minister in 1924 and 1929-1935.
"Readers will be impressed by Ward's scholarship. The book was thoroughly researched ... meticulously documented ... Ward's account is balanced and judicious, although the author does take positions on various controversies. The writing style, while scarcely the stuff that Pulitzer Prizes are made of, is clear, lucid and readable." (David Lukowitz, British Politics Group Newsletter)