The national government, 1931-40

the long version

"While not wishing to claim that the National government was a great success, Dr. Smart none the less argues that it has been woefully misunderstood by historians, who have allowed themselves to be too influenced by its critics and the drama of its collapse. The government's longevity, popularity at the polls and in many ways successful planning for the Second World War (the hated Neville Chamberlain was directly responsible for the technological investment that won the Battle of Britain) should not be ignored."--BOOK JACKET. "Additionally, while castigated as undemocratic by its critics, the National government did manage to preserve democratic principles in Britain when they were being undermined and destroyed in much of Europe. Negatively, too, the coalition offered Churchill's wartime government of 1940 a model of co-operation between parties, which made it in many ways suspiciously similar to its lauded successor."--BOOK JACKET. "This is the first book for students on British politics of the period. It brings together a mass of specialized literature to make clear and interesting a critical decade which ended in the most severe test any British government has ever had to face."--BOOK JACKET.