H. H. Asquith: Last of the Romans chronicles the life of H. H. Asquith (1852-1928), the longest-serving British prime minister between Lord Liverpool and Margaret Thatcher. In this study, V. Markham Lester argues that the key to understanding Asquith is to recognize the classical virtues he acquired early in his education. Employing unpublished sources and documents made public since the last full-scale biography of Asquith was published more than forty years ago, Lester challenges many interpretations in earlier biographies. Previous studies of Asquith have often glossed over his education and early years, contending that his development did not contribute materially to his mature outlook. On the contrary, by examining thoroughly Asquith's early career-particularly his tenure as home secretary and his time as a barrister-this book offers unappreciated insights into Asquith's character and development as a political leader. Lester further challenges the previous conclusions that Asquith failed as a war leader, demonstrating that Asquith succeeded in meeting the novel challenges of World War I and that his accomplishments have been insufficiently understood. He explains how Asquith's lifelong reliance on rational thought, eloquence, and self-control produced the impressive leadership required to hold the fragile government together as it struggled to handle the unexpected and unprecedented challenges of world war and to lay the foundation for ultimate victory in the Great War.
V. Markham Lester is Atchison professor of history and law at Birmingham-Southern College and fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Chapter 1: Family, youth, and education (1852-1874) Chapter 2: Early legal career and election to Parliament (1875-1892) Chapter 3: Home Secretary (1892-1895) Chapter 4: Waiting in the wings (1896-1905) Chapter 5: Chancellor of the Exchequer (1905-1908) Chapter 6: Prime Minister (1908-1914) Chapter 7: Family troubles and the road to war (1905-1914) Chapter 8: Leading a Liberal government at war (August 1914 - May 1915) Chapter 9: Leading a coalition government at war (May 1915 - December 1916) Chapter 10: Last of the Romans (December 1916 - October 1927)
Henry Herbert Asquith's career encompassed the social and cultural changes of the late Victorian and Edwardian Britain, the domestic political crises fueled after 1900, and the global catastrophe of World War I. Surprisingly, however, Asquith lacks a recent, comprehensive biography. H. H. Asquith: Last of the Romans fills that important gap with thorough research and insightful analysis. Markham Lester brings concurrent threads in Asquith's life and career together in a highly readable way. -- William Anthony Hay, Mississippi State University
