First published in 1977, The Conservatives has been edited and designed by Lord Bulter, who has contributed much to the ethos and spirit of modern Conservatism. He has brought together a quartet of eminent modern historians, each of whom handles a significant period in the party’s and the nation’s history.
Lord Bulter provides the Introduction. Professor Gash records the development of Conservatism from its origins in the reaction against the ideas and the armed threat of the revolutionary French state to the status of a party formally embodied under Sir Robert Peel. Dr Southgate discusses the whole immense period from Disraeli to Bonar Law. Professor Dilks explores the inner-war period from Baldwin to Nevile Chamberlain while Dr Ramsden concludes the study from Churchill to the policy-making year of 1965. The book is an encouragement to the party to rethink its doctrine under the inspiration of old values and in the light of the changed circumstances of modern times.
The Editor points out that, owing to the development of the technical revolution, things have changed more between the period of Sir Robert Peel and 1970s than between Julius Caesar and Peel. This book will provide a hunting ground for historians and modern political readers and should be a happy vade mecum for parliamentary candidates standing in the Conservative cause, to the fortunes of which the volume is dedicated.