Author Description

Arthur Balfour was one of the most important British political leaders of the last three hundred years.This in-depth biography should be an essential book for readers of Martin Gilbert, Roy Jenkins and John Bew.Most famous for the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which announced Britain’s support for the establishment of a ‘national home for the Jewish people’, he served as Prime Minister in the early years of the twentieth century and remained an influential cabinet member through many of the most difficult periods of British history.Using a wealth of archival material Ruddock Mackay’s detailed biography of Balfour uncovers the turbulent political life of this intellectual statesman who after resigning as Conservative Party leader in 1911 returned to the front benches as Foreign Secretary during the height of the First World War and through the peace conferences that followed it.‘[Balfour] is equally intriguing to those who see high politics as a game and those interested in the formation of public policy.’ The Journal of Modern History‘[Mackay] provides additional insight into Balfour’s ideas on education, foreign affairs, and defense’ The American Historical Review‘Mackay’s book is meticulous, important and well-footnoted’ Los Angeles TimesIntellectual Statesman provides fascinating insight into British history in the early twentieth century from the perspective of a politician who took part in the debates surrounding Irish Home Rule, served as Prime Minister during the Anglo-German naval arms race, Leader of the Opposition throughout the crisis of Lloyd George’s People Budget, and later was Foreign Secretary during World War One and the Paris Peace Conference.