THE PRIME MINISTERS WHO MADE ENGLAND

The history of England presented through portraits of its most emblematic prime ministers, from William Pitt to Theresa May.

Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill, Neville Chamberlain, Anthony Eden – these names are familiar to us, either because they governed recently or because they are associated with remarkable events in European history. But what about the others – Disraeli, Gladstone, Palmerston, Aberdeen, Melbourne, Liverpool – who successfully led Britain to greater glory, especially when its colonial empire was being built in the 19th century, how much do we really know about them? By presenting the biographies of 30 or so prime ministers in a clear, lively and accessible manner, this book fills a void. As we discover these exceptional destinies, we follow the history of a nation in its various dimensions: political, economic, social, but also intellectual, artistic and religious. This is additionally the history of a monarchy, as the book analyzes the relationship of each minister with the king or queen sitting on the throne.

An excellent connoisseur of British society, Antoine d'Arjuzon has previously published at Perrin the biographies of the Duke of Wellington (1998) and King Edward VII (2004).