Selwyn Lloyd

Selwyn Lloyd who was a member of the Conservative party died in 1978. In this biography, the author has aimed to combine the immediacy of personal recollections with a study of both the government records and the relevant private archives. D.R.Thorpe tries to show the many unusual facets of this man who was one of the most significant post-war political figures - Foreign Secretary who survived Suez, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Speaker of the House of Commons. His relationships with Churchill, Eden, Eisenhower, Home, Macmillan and others are examined and events such as Macmillan's "night of the long knives" which ousted him as Chancellor, the negotiations with the French and Israelis at Sevres in 1956, the Conservative leadership contests of 1963 and 1965 and the identification of Himmler's corpse by Lloyd are some of the events portrayed. The author draws on Lloyd's voluminous papers, archives and some 400 interviews with his contemporaries to reveal a man who, like Bottom the Weaver, a role he once acted, "undertook" many parts. D.R. Thorpe teaches political history at Charterhouse. He is also author of a study of Chamberlain, Curzon and Lord Butler, "The Uncrowned Prime Ministers".