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9780198203049

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`No historian has used the Labour Party's and trade unions' organisational records so thoroughly, nor - with the aid of the labour press and an exhaustive list of memoirs and personal papers - made these dry adminstrative minutes and tightly-managed conference proceedings yield such rich political evidence. Each of these chapters or groups of chapters can be recommended as original studies in themselves, but Howell's great achievement is to show how the dynamics between the party's components shaped the whole party.' Contemporary British History `As the author of numerous studies of the Independent Labour Party and the mineworkers' and railwaymen's trade unions, David Howell is formidably equipped to bring new life into discussion of the Labour Party in the 1920s and early 1930s. With the candour and confidence of a true expert he places his book precisely within the historical literature, and dispenses with a recital of the well-established aspects of the subject.' Contemporary British History

David Howell has here produced the first comprehensive study of the Labour Party during the 'Ramsay MacDonald years'. This alone makes MacDonald's Party an extremely significant book; more importantly, it is an extensive and exhaustive analysis of its subject. Labour History Review ... magisterial ... one of the most learned and authoritative contributions to 20th-century labour history I can think of. Howell has woven the details into a rich and compelling narrative. No one who wants to understand the Labour Party - new or old - can afford to ignore it. David Marquand, New Statesman, January 2004 This book joins the ranks of indispensable works for historians of the labour movement and early twentieth-century politics. Contemporary British History David Howell is one of the finest of Britain's current crop of Labour historians and his latest volume shows why ... What is impressive about Howell's approach is his painstaking attention to detail and the subtle way in which he reconstructs the complexities of the party that Ramsay MacDonald shaped, led and then abandoned. This is scholarship of the highest order. Howell gives proper priority to the vital importance of the trade unions in Labour's early development. Nearly a third of his book is devoted to a close analysis of the union presence, but not a word is wasted ... By placing the unions at the centre of his study, Howell illustrates with magisterial authority why Labour was so distinctive in its character and ideology from other socialist parties in Europe at that time ... splendid volume. Tribune Fine study ... closely researched, judicious and wide-ranging account. Martin Pugh, Times Literary Supplement

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David Howell is Professor of Politics at the University of York.

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