CLEMENT ATTLEE: the inevitable prime minister

Attlee has been labelled ‘the accidental Prime Ministerâ€, but, as this biography demonstrates, Labourâ€s longest-serving leader lacked neither ambition nor ability, and his partyâ€s landslide victory in 1945 was not merely due to a temporary wave of populism. Jago traces Attleeâ€s rise to power, including his role as Churchillâ€s wartime deputy, and shows how his relentless quest for a more egalitarian society inspired far-reaching reforms, not least the creation of the NHS.