H. H. Asquith: Last of the Romans chronicles the life of H. H. Asquith (1852–1928), the longest-serving British prime minister between Lord Liverpool and Margaret Thatcher. In this study, V. Markham Lester argues that the key to understanding Asquith is to recognize the classical virtues he acquired early in his education. Employing unpublished sources and documents made public since the last full-scale biography of Asquith was published more than forty years ago, Lester challenges many interpretations in earlier biographies. Previous studies of Asquith have often glossed over his education and early years, contending that his development did not contribute materially to his mature outlook. On the contrary, by examining thoroughly Asquith’s early career—particularly his tenure as home secretary and his time as a barrister—this book offers unappreciated insights into Asquith’s character and development as a political leader. Lester further challenges the previous conclusions that Asquith failed as a war leader, demonstrating that Asquith succeeded in meeting the novel challenges of World War I and that his accomplishments have been insufficiently understood. He explains how Asquith’s lifelong reliance on rational thought, eloquence, and self-control produced the impressive leadership required to hold the fragile government together as it struggled to handle the unexpected and unprecedented challenges of world war and to lay the foundation for ultimate victory in the Great War.

H. H. Asquith fell in love with Venetia Stanley in the spring of 1912. Over the next three years he wrote to her whenever he could not see her: sometimes three times a day, sometimes during a debate in the house of Commons, on occasion even during a Cabinet meeting. He shared many political and military secrets with her and wrote freely of his colleagues in government, who included LLoyd George, Churchill, and Kitchener. The correspondence ended abruptly in May 1915 when Venetia told Asquith of her engagement to a junior Cabinet Minister, Edwin Montagu. The Prime Minister, who was at a crisis in his political fortunes, confessed himself utterly heart-broken. This reissue of Asquith's letters to Venetia Stanley includes explanatory notes from Michael and Eleanor Brock, two of the leading authorities in the field. This volume documents a romance, and yet is vital reading for anyone interested in the history of World War I or in British politics of the time.

A biography of Edwin Montagu, British Secretary of State for India in 1917-22. Conservative Party opposition to his policies was accompanied by more or less openly expressed antisemitism (see the index). Ch. 23 (pp. 422-449), "Zionism: The Balfour Declaration, " traces the debate among British Jewry over the government's support for a Jewish state in Palestine. Montagu, like most of the Jewish establishment, attempted to prevent adoption of the Declaration, fearing that it would lead to perceptions that Jews were not loyal citizens in the countries of their residence and thus fuel antisemitism.