Rab Butler: The Best Prime Minister Britain Never Had?

The Conservative politician Richard Austen ‘Rab†Butler (1902–82) held three of the great offices of state and came close, on three occasions, to becoming Prime Minister. This biography examines his upbringing, education and political career and draws on his own papers and the testimony of his contemporaries to explore why, despite his formidable intellect and distinguished record as Chancellor of the Exchequer, the premiership ultimately eluded him.

Michael Jago read Ancient History and Philosophy at University College, Oxford before settling in the USA in 1980. For fifteen years he ran an educational travel business, focusing on the battlefields of Western Europe. Previously a publisher and editor of a number of journals, he now specialises in biography. Previous publications include The Man Who Was George Smiley: The Life of George Bingham and Clement Attlee: The Inevitable Prime Minister (shortlisted for the 2015 Paddy Power Political Biography of the Year Award), published by Biteback in 2013 and 2014 respectively. He lives in both Chicago and south-west France.