As the conference proceeded, the size of Germany’s huge army was discussed. Although, as the Secretary of War, Richard Haldane, put it, ‘Nobody contemplates marching to Berlin nowadays, simply because it is out of the question’, other theatres of war were considered. These might be Australia, Canada, South Africa or India. How might the dominions participate? Merriman dug his heels in. Rather testily, he explained that he had had the greatest difficulty in getting defence votes through the Cape Parliament for over 40 years and he was not about to pledge his troops to an unknown future war. ‘Supposing you had a war in the Balkans, I feel absolutely certain the colonists would be very reluctant indeed to send a force to engage in that. Supposing that by any misfortune or mischance your alliance with Japan was to bring you into collision or conflict with the United States, if any such calamity was possible, do you suppose that any colonist would for a single moment send an expeditionary force to help an Eastern Power? Never!' (16) As generations of students know, Vernon Bogdanor is an unrivalled expert on history and politics, and this book brilliantly brings together his thoughts – crisp, authoritative and lucid – on a vital, transformational period of Britain’s past.” Nicholas Owen, associate professor of politics, University of Oxford

Though perhaps an overlong account, Vernon Bogdanor has delivered a refreshing take on Liberal history Heather Jones joined University College London as Professor in Modern and Contemporary European History in 2018, having previously worked at the London School of Economics and Political Science where she was Associate Professor in International History. Heather works on war cultures 1880-1945. Her main research expertise is on the First World War. She is a particular specialist in prisoner of war studies, and on the British monarchy and the First World War. If you think you know the British political scene from 1895 to 1914, think again. Vernon Bogdanor has the habit of unearthing gems that have been missed by others. He does it again in this magisterial work on post-Gladstonian Britain by challenging some of the long-established myths about this period that deserve to be cast aside.” Professor Malcolm Murfett, King’s College Londontheir intelligence – this makes a huge difference for a speaker. In the Oxford audience I encountered many experts in the field my book covered and even one of the ambassadors I’d quoted Nor did the red wall voters seek a smaller state. They wanted more state intervention not less, especially after Covid so starkly revealed the inequalities which still disfigure Britain. A country in which financiers rake in millions amidst queues for food banks was not one of which they could feel proud. I would hope that people will see the period as one of creative fertility rather than as one of decadence and as a disappointing coda to the mid-Victorian era. The Oxford festival is the most elegant and atmospheric of literary festivals. It’s a pleasure to both attend and perform there.

H. Herwig, ‘Luxury’ Fleet: The Imperial German Navy, 1888 – 1918, George Allen & Unwin, London, 1980, p.50P. Kerr, Foreign Affairs: Anglo-German Rivalry, The Round Table, November 1910, p. 7 – 40, quoted in John Kendle, The Round Table Movement and Imperial Union, p. 108 But 2022 could end that civil war, for it is now the hard Brexiteers and the free marketeers who have been de-legitimised. The demise of Trussonomics has proved, once again, that we live in an interconnected world. While of course Brexit is yesterday’s argument, it is now clear that we cannot hope to prosper without a better relationship with the EU. A. Odendaal, The Founders: The origins of the ANC and the struggle for democracy in South Africa, Jacana Media, 2012. The turbulent years of 1895 to 1914 changed Britain’s political landscape for ever. They saw a transition from aristocratic rule to mass politics and heralded a new agenda which still dominates today. The issues of the period – economic modernisation, social welfare and equality, secondary and technical education, a new role for Britain in the world – were complex and difficult. Indeed, they proved so thorny that despite the efforts of the Edwardians they remain among the most pressing problems we face in the twenty-first century.