Product Description

What were the political machinations that kept Neville Chamberlain in office during the 1930s and deliberately kept Winston Churchill out? Burying Caesar takes us into the thick of the battle for control of the Tory party in the 1930s. Winston Churchill and Neville Chamberlain were two giants of the political stage who were the sons of men who had decisively shaped the politics of the previous era. Burying Caesar charts the course plotted by both Churchill and Chamberlain in their ambition to win the greatest prize in British politics, which had eluded both their fathers. Burying Caesar is a gripping account of the mechanisms and motivations that underpin politics in Britain.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #196971 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
For despairing students of the Conservative Party's recent troubled history--from Margaret Thatcher's downfall to the civil strife of the Major years--this sizeable book will come as both salutary reminder and, perhaps, some kind of solace. Because one of its central inferences is that the commanding heights of the Conservative Party have long been a scene of vicious internecine struggle, not least in the crucial years 1929-1939, when Neville Chamberlain went head to head for the leadership, and then the premiership, with Winston Churchill.

The narrative divides naturally into two parts; indeed as the author admits his book is almost two volumes in one. The first section exhaustively details how Neville Chamberlain slipped into high office despite the junking of his brother Austen as Tory leader; it simultaneously outlines the backbench machinations of a consequently aggrieved and resentful Churchill. The second part of the book tells the better-known tale: of how, in the face of expansionist Nazi Germany, Churchill's robust policy of rearmament came to be preferred to Chamberlain's well- meaning but fatal "appeasement". Together the two sections of Burying Caesar make for a useful, enlightening, sometimes gripping saga that should more than satisfy the most gluttonous of political history buffs. --Sean Thomas

Review
A rivetting account of the rivalry between Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill for the leadership of the Conservative Party between 1929 and 1940, an ambition that had eluded their famous fathers, Joseph Chamberlaine and Lord Randolph Churchill, Their rivalry shaped Conservative Party politics throughout the 1930s. In the end it was the 'outsider' Churchill who prevailed over the 'Establishment' Chamberlain. Excluded from the inner leadership after 1929 for his reactionary views over India and the general mistrust in which he was held within the Conservative Party, Churchill's position was transformed by the gathering clouds of war from 1936 onwards, though he avoided outright opposition to Chamberlain until 1938. In the end, however, it was the Labour Party's refusal to serve under anyone other than Churchill as leader of an all-party wartime coalition that brought about his triumph over a hostile and resentful Chamberlain - dominated Conservative Party. This epic and momentous struggle is brilliantly and evocatively documented by the author in a triumphant first book. A 'must' for anyone interested in the politics of the period. (Kirkus UK)

Synopsis
What were the political machinations that kept Neville Chamberlain in office during the 1930s and deliberately kept Winston Churchill out? Burying Caesar takes us into the thick of the battle for control of the Tory party in the 1930s. Winston Churchill and Neville Chamberlain were two giants of the political stage who were the sons of men who had decisively shaped the politics of the previous era. Burying Caesar charts the course plotted by both Churchill and Chamberlain in their ambition to win the greatest prize in British politics, which had eluded both their fathers. Burying Caesar is a gripping account of the mechanisms and motivations that underpin politics in Britain.

Customer Reviews

Stuck on what to buy for your father's birthday?
- look no further! This is one of the more interesting books on British politics I have read. It has changed my view on Chamberlain, who comes out as a much stronger figure than historians normally portray - many writers who are keen on Churchill (as the author clearly is) tend to paint Chamberlain as a two dimensional cartoon character. And to generalise yet again, unlike most books on recent British political history this one is actually quite fun to read - there are some amusing anecdotes and withering asides which I hadnt come across before.

Excellent - wonderfully written and very insightful
This book, despite it's academic subject, gives a gripping and exciting account of the relationship between Churchill and Chamberlain in the context of 1930s politics. Graham Stewart has an excellent literary style, and is obviously extremely knowledgeable on the subject. I would heartily recommend this to anyone with even a passing interest in politics, history or biography.