The Young Lloyd George: [1]

click here for more details, find new or used items	John Grigg Used from £282.16 Pages: 336 (Paperback) ISBN: 0140284249 Pub: Penguin Books Ltd Pub date: 2002-08-29 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 376955

Reader Reviews:

A Gem of a Book on the Early Life of the Welsh Wizard (2/3 people found this helpful)

This was the first volume of the uncompleted biography written by John Grigg and published in 1973 covering the years 1863 through to 1902.

It suffers a little bit from not being edited and brought completely up to date in 1997 when it could have been (the indirect reference to Rhodesia is an example) and perhaps also suffers from not having full access to all Lloyd George papers.

It is still a great read and full of useful insight on the nature of Lloyd George's radicalism and his transition from a Welsh Nationlist politician (but of a devolutionist streak rather than as an Plaid Cymru style independent) to one who gradually built a name for himself inside England as a radical Liberal opposed to the Boer War (and who nearly lost his life for these beliefs in Birmingham - shame on the Birmingham Post and Birmingham Mail for their role in whipping up the violence!!!).

As the comments on the back of the book state, this biography does get at the man behind the politician particularly in his courtship of his first wife Margaret (who was somewhat reluctant in marrying him due to his reputation for philandering), some suggested reasons for his philanderings (Margaret not spending enough time with him in London, preferring instead to live in Cricceth), his disasterous business activities and his renown as a successful lawyer who made his reputation through the Llanfrothen burial case (even if his Nonconformism was in reality more Deist). His vendetta's against privilege and Tory landowners are also shown as defining elements of his Liberalism even if his attitudes towards non-whites is quite frankly disappointing and unrecognisable to modern Liberals and Liberal Democrats.

Although dated, this is an unmissable and lively book on the early life of Lloyd George and is thoroughly recommended to all interested in the history of the great man and his role in the fortunes of the British Liberal Party. It is a work unlikely to be surpassed.

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