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Since 1945, when the Second World War ended and Britain had its last great electoral landslide, there have been ten prime ministers: Attlee, Churchill, Eden, Macmillan, Home, Wilson, Heath, Callaghan, Thatcher and Major. These are politicians who have differed in their personal backgrounds, the extent of their parliamentary and ministerial experience before becoming prime minister, their style and personalities, and, most strikingly and unpredictably of all, their effectiveness in office. In this period Britain has undergone vast changes economically, socially and in its relations with the rest of the world - put at its simplest, it has lost the Great Power status it still had at the end of the war. Not the least radical change has been the political influence of television, which hardly existed when Attlee and Churchill held office.
Prime ministers define eras, and the way this book is organised enables us to observe how such eras begin and end, and how holders of the top political office go through peaks and troughs in their authority and therefore ability to govern. The study provides abundant insight into all the processes and institutions that feed the central process of government. It is also rich in human interest and drama, not only with the rise and decline (or fall) of leaders but in the roles played by subsidiary actors - opposition leaders, ministerial colleagues and extra-parliamentary associates.
