Liberals in Schism: A History of the National Liberal Party–By David Dutton (original) (raw)

David Lloyd George famously remarked of Sir John Simon that 'He has sat on the fence so long that the iron has entered his soul.' It is generally agreed that Simon had a very fine brain, which he failed to deploy to any constructive political purpose. The National Liberals, the quasi-party created by Simon in 1931 (and known, confusingly, as the Liberal Nationals until 1948) has had a similarly bad press. David Dutton's book sets out to rescue it, not merely from the enormous condescension of posterity, but from the disdain and active loathing of a considerable number of its contemporaries. This job is not