First published in 1972, Human Documents of the Lloyd George Era presents the years when Lloyd George was in his prime, and his career in peace and war may be seen as the frame in which the ‘documents’ find their proper place; but the book’s real subject is not Lloyd George, it is the People, with whom he identified himself and spent his long life trying to serve. For the purpose of this book Lloyd George Era is taken as the period from 1905. The early documents enable us to reconstruct a vivid picture of life as it was lived ‘before the war’ by such people as London artisans, Middlesbrough ironworkers, Lancashire factory hands, Northumbrian pit-folk and farm labourers, while extracts from reports of the first ‘Lady Factory Inspectors’ and of the great Royal Commission on the Poor Law highlight the grim situation of the ‘Pauper Host’.
With the outbreak of war, the mood changes, as Lloyd George leads the People in a massive war effort on the home front, producing munitions and trying to maintain normal industrial output. A glimpse is given of the various contributions made by women. Out of a vast mass of tiny details a picture emerges of an essentially peace- loving people joining forces to achieve what Lloyd George called ‘the bloodstained stagger’ to victory. This is an essential read for students of British history.
