Codification in the communist world :: symposium in memory of Zsolt Szirmai 1903-1973 (Monog... Book

A fascinating study of (in my opinion) the greatest British politician of all time, from his childhood and early life as the son of a Welsh miner up until the end of the Second World War, Labour's landslide victory in the 1945 election and his shock appointment as Minister of Health. Michael Foot (a Labour MP at the time of writing, not yet leader of the party, and a follower and friend of Bevan's early in his career) writes beautifully and clearly put in weeks of painstaking research to ensure he is as accurate as possible in his descriptions of Bevan's own ideas and feelings, the political climate around him, and the opinions other MPs and pubic figures had of Bevan himself, who was often (especially during the war) a much maligned and hated figure in the British establishment and press.
Foot himself is far from neutral on the subject of Bevan, using his thorough research to back up Bevan's often highly controversial statements in Parliament and elsewhere, proving that Bevan's criticisms of Churchill and his government were not only valid, but prophetic in their insight and held by many other luminaries of the time, most notably Roosevelt, Stalin, and Alan Brooke, chief of the imperial general staff during WWII and Churchill's foremost military advisor.
Foot offers an alternative view of WWII here that because of the veneration of Churchill and the skewed, jingoistic view of the period we are given by the media in the UK, is both enlightening and compelling. The book drags a little bit until this section begins, but once it does I found myself unable to put it down. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the period, Churchill, the Labour Party in the mid 20th century, or British politics in general. Brilliant.