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: #293128 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 533 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

About the Author
Graham Stewart studied Modern History at St Andrews University before going up to St Johns College, Cambridge. He was Alan Clark's researcher on THE TORIES: THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY AND THE NATION STATE 1922-1997. He published his first book, BURYING CAESAR, study of Churchill and Chamberlain and British politics of the 1930s, in 1999 to rave reviews. He has also worked as a leader writer on The Times.

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.

An interesting insight into the politics of the 1920s to the 1940s
Burying Caesar by Graham Stewart is a very good book about a pivotal era in British politics as the problems caused by the First World War, then the Great Depression and finally the rise of Facism put huge pressures on the United Kingdom and the Conservative Party. It is a very well written book which has a good pace and is informative and at times opinionated. The book itself focuses on much more then the two protaganists mentioned in the title but does still present a compelling story of the fortunes of and the relationship between Churchill and Chamberlain. Overall a very good book and well worth reading to understand the careers of these two major political figures and also as a reappraisal of the era.