The Lloyd George Papers [15min]

Though he died some time ago, David Lloyd George has been in the news a lot recently -- because he was the Prime Minister who most brazenly sold honours for donations. That stained a stellar career. Having made his name leading the left-wing of the Liberal party against the Boer War, Britain's Prime Minister from 1916 until 1923 laid the foundations of the welfare state and led Britain to victory in World War One. In a new two part series, the author Trevor Fishlock explores the private papers of one of Britain's most charismatic and controversial leaders -- admired by contemporary politicians as diverse as Michael Heseltine and Gordon Brown. Through Lloyd George's letters, we hear of his early burning ambition, the strains in his marriage when his wife refused to follow him to London, the start of his ministerial career following the Liberal landslide of 1906, and his hostility towards the Royal Family.