The Chamberlains

Joseph, Austen and Neville 1836-1940

The Chamberlains were a unique urban dynasty. The locus of their power was the previously underdeveloped Midlands industrial city of Birmingham: for sixty-four unbroken years, they represented it in Parliament. A family belonging to the Nonconformist elite which dominated the city socially and commercially, the foundations of its power were laid by the charismatic Joseph, a successful entrepreneur who as mayor was credited with Birmingham s transformation. He entered Parliament as a Radical in 1876, then years later was active in defeating Irish Home Rule and creating the Liberal Unionist Party. From 1895 to 1903 he was Colonial Secretary and an aggressive imperialist, eventually splitting his party over tariff reform. His elder son Austen spent his career at the apex of the Conservative Party, twice Chancellor of the Exchequer, a distinguished Foreign Secretary and several times passing up opportunities leading to the Premiership. Neville followed closely in his father s footsteps. Entering Parliament late, he became a key figure in interwar politics. A reforming Minister of Health and a successful Chancellor in the wake of the Great Depression, as Prime Minister from 1937 to 1940 he tragically fell foul of the dictators, his policy of Appeasement blighting his reputation. The Chamberlains is a highly researched study of the roles played and the influence exerted in British politics by the Chamberlain dynasty. Using a vast array of correspondence, it offers insight into the private motivations and concerns of these three remarkable men their relationships with each other and the family, the difference in their skills and ambitions, and the impressions they formed during a period of tremendous political fermentation both at home and in the Empire.