Books in the British Lives series

William Temple (1881-1944) was the outstanding British religious leader of the twentieth century. He believed that the 'modern state' was incomplete without a modern Christian church, which should set the moral and political tone of the community. This is a study of Temple's public life, including his attempts to unite the world's Protestant churches.

John Churchill, first duke of Marlborough, was one of the two greatest military commanders in British history and the first subject to achieve and exercise a dominating influence in European affairs. With Wellington and Nelson he is the nearest that Britain has had to a national hero, yet today his reputation has faded.

This concise study of Disraeli, aimed at the general reader as much as at the student, stands in contrast to the many full-length studies which continue to appear. It focuses on the substantial reassessment of Disraeli's career and personality which is currently taking place.

This book offers a readable yet scholarly account of the life of one of the greatest statesmen of empire, William Pitt the Elder, First Earl of Chatham (1708-78). Chatham is seen as a political outsider who rose to direct British policy in the Seven Years War, the crucial struggle that gave Canada to Britain.