Sir Edward Grey’s Liberal Critics: 1905–1914

POLITICS & SOCIAL

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Sir Edward Grey was the Liberal Foreign Secretary [1905-16], the longest continuous post holder in British history and arguably, through his foreign policy, was instrumental in Britain’s entry into the First World War. The decision for war, whilst exercised by a nominal Liberal Cabinet, was considered by his own Liberal Party critics to be a failure of policy.

This book, relying on relatively newly archived material for the first time in over fifty years, challenges certain historiographical assumptions surrounding the way colleagues within his own party endeavoured to bring about a directional change of policy.

Whilst several leading scholars have dealt with Anglo-German foreign policy, drawing on new research, this book identifies and carries out a detailed evaluation of the criticisms to establish justification for Grey’s policy. The argument will be presented that the activities of the so-called ‘Liberal Radicals’ laid the foundation stones for a complete change in the way that foreign policy was carried out after the cessation of conflict and that no longer was Britain’s foreign policy in the hands of the few but became fundamentally within the control of the parliamentary structure.

This book will be useful reading for those who are interested in Edwardian Liberal Politics.

David Yates was born in Birmingham and educated at Nottingham University, where he acquired a law degree. Following his qualification as a solicitor, he founded his own firm in Nottingham. He retired from legal practise in 2010 to pursue research. He then completed a master’s degree in history, followed by a PhD at Leicester University, where he completed his thesis on Sir Edward Grey’s Critics. David is now a University Research Fellow, pursuing research into various aspects of Edwardian Liberalism.