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ADDISON (Rt. Hon. Christopher, PC, MD, FRCS)
Four And A Half Years: A Personal Diary from June 1914 to January 1919.
1st Ed., 2 Vols., 297pp., portrait frontis., 33 photos., map & [332]pp., frontis., 31 photos. Hutchinson.
1934
#68493
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![[HLMainPic]](booksThumbs/68493.jpg "Click on the left or right of the image for more images")
Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison, was a professor of anatomy then a Liberal, & later Labour, politician. During the Great War he served Lloyd George as Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Munitions from its inception in May 1915-July 1916 & Minister of Munitions from then until July 1917 when he became Minister for Reconstruction with responsibility for preparing plans for -post-war reconstruction. "When the political crisis of May 1915 saw Asquith's Liberal government transformed into a coalition including the Unionists and Labour, Addison found himself moved as under-secretary to Lloyd George's new office as minister of munitions. His political role now moved on to a higher plane. He was an essential lieutenant as Lloyd George used munitions' production to transform the war economy. He was most active in costing contracts and in negotiations with arms manufacturers and the unions. Here he had to handle delicate issues over dilution of skilled labour and the use of women workers. There was a prolonged crisis on the Clyde where the Clyde Workers' Committee called for strikes; Addison was centrally involved in trying to provide a solution through the use of trade cards and 'de-badging' procedures, and with some success. He became, therefore, a major practitioner of 'war socialism.' Also he became much involved in the political manoeuvres that led to the triumph of Lloyd George. He was among those Liberals who strongly backed Lloyd George in the cabinet wrangles on military conscription. The latter's success in April 1916 severely damaged the authority of Asquith and encouraged many Liberals to think of him as a replacement at 10 Downing Street." - DNB. Both vols. sl. foxed, sl. spotting to boards o/w VG in orig. cloth, Vol. I inscribed by the author "This Book belongs to my friend H.L. Latham. Chistopher Addison." Ian Beckett (in 'The First World War & British Military History') suggests that Addison was one of those post-war memoirists whose "financial situation compelled writing" - although the scarcity of this work (& its predecessor, 'Politics from Within' [1924]) suggest that its print run & sales were small, so they cannot have helped much with his financial situation. See illustrations on our website.
£145
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