For the Coalition Government the best work is probably K.O. Morgan, Consensus
and Disunity although Maurice Cowling's The Impact of Labour, 1920-1924 is
very helpful for understanding the political mood of the day.
On the Conservatives, the dominant interwar party, there are many good works
beginning with John Ramsden's survey, The Age of Balfour and Baldwin. Also
valuable are Stuart Ball, Baldwin and the Conservative Party: The Crisis of
1929-1931; Robert Self, Tories and Tariffs; David Close, "The Collapse of
Resistance to Democracy: Conservatives, Adult Suffrage, and Second Chamber
Reform, 1911-1928," Historical Journal 20 (1977): 893-918; and Philip
Williamson, "'Safety First': Baldwin, the Conservative Party, and the 1929
General Election," Historical Journal 25: 385-409.
For the other parties good sources include Richard Lyman, The First Labour
Government; Pamela Graves, Labour Women (the only history of women for any
interwar party); Jack Reynolds and Keith Laybourn, Labour Heartland (West
Yorkshire); and Trevor Wilson, The Downfall of the Liberal Party.
Beyond these party histories some other sources worth considering are Andrew
Thorpe, The British General Election of 1931; Jeffrey Skelley, The General
Strike; Chris Cook, The Age of Alignment (electoral study of shift from
Liberals to Labour); Chris Cook and Gillian Peele, eds., The Politics of
Reappraisal, 1918-1939; and D.L. LeMahieu, A Culture for Democracy. Bentley
Gilbert's British Social Policy and John Stevenson's British Society are
helpful for establishing the social context of politics.
Finally some of the more noteworthy biographies are John Campbell, The Goat
in the Wilderness, 1922-1931 (Lloyd George); Keith Feiling, The Life of
Neville Chamberlain; vols 4 & 5 of Martin Gilbert's biography of Churchill;
David Marquand, Ramsay MacDonald; Keith Middlemas and John Barnes, Baldwin;
(the much shorter) Stanley Baldwin by Kenneth Young; and A.J.P. Taylor,
Beaverbrook.
Hope these are helpful.
Neal R. McCrillis
Methodist College
NMcCrillis@aol.com
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