Winston Churchill described Joseph Chamberlain as 'the man who made the weather' for twenty years in British politics between the 1880s and the 1900s. This volume contains contributions on every aspect of Chamberlain's career, including international and cultural perspectives hitherto ignored by his many biographers. It breaks his career into three aspects: his career as an international statesman, defender of British interests and champion of imperial federation; his role as a national leader, opposing Gladstone's crusade for Irish home rule by forming an alliance with the Conservatives, campaigning for social reform and finally advocating a protectionist economic policy to promote British business; and the aspect for which he is still celebrated in his adopted city, as the provider of sanitation, gas lighting, clean water and cultural achievement for Birmingham - a model of civic regeneration that still inspires modern politicians such as Michael Heseltine, Tristram Hunt and DavidWilletts.

Autorentext
Ian Cawood is Reader in Modern History and Head of History at Newman University, UK. He is also Programme Leader for the MA in Victorian Studies and a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His most recent book is The Liberal Unionist Party: A History (2012). 
 
Chris Upton was Reader in Public History at Newman University, UK, author of A History of Birmingham (1993) and Living Back to Back (2005), among many other scholarly and popular publications. He was a regular columnist for the Birmingham Post and historical consultant for the BBC, the National Trust, the Birmingham Museums Trust, the Guardian and Birmingham City Council. Chris Upton sadly died in October 2015, shortly after completing this book.

Inhalt

Foreword; Sir Alan Beith
Introduction: Did Joseph Chamberlain Really 'Make the Weather'?; Peter Marsh
PART I: INTERNATIONAL STATESMAN
1.'Intimately Dependent on Foreign Policy': Joseph Chamberlain and Foreign Policy; T.G. Otte
2. Joseph Chamberlain in South Africa; Jackie Grobler
3. 'King Joe' and 'King Dick': Joseph Chamberlain and Richard Seddon; Tom Brooking
PART II: NATIONAL LEADER
4. Chamberlain and Gladstone: An Overview of their Relationship; Roland Quinault
5. Joseph Chamberlain and Leonard Courtney: Freely Disagreeing Radicals?; Eleanor Tench
6. 'The People's Bread': A Social History of Joseph Chamberlain and the Tariff Reform Campaign; Oliver Betts
PART III: LOCAL ICON
7. George Dixon and Joseph Chamberlain: Friends, Rivals and Even Enemies; James Dixon
8. Joseph Chamberlain and the Birmingham Satirical Journals, 1876-1911; Ian Cawood and Chris Upton
9. Birmingham's Protestant Non-Conformity in the Late Nineteenth and Early TwentiethCenturies; Andrew Vail
Conclusion: Joseph Chamberlain: His Legacy and Reputation; Ian Cawood