The controversy surrounding the publication of Richard Crossman's Cabinet Diaries (1975) brought to the fore opposing concepts of 'open' and 'closed' government within Britain's free society. While a balance has for the moment been struck concerning the secrecy of Cabinet proceedings, a historical question remains: by what process, and with what results, has official secrecy come to envelop the practices of modern Cabinet government? This book tackles that key question, drawing upon a uniquely wide range of official and private papers to examine the historical development of the Cabinet Office, the custodian of Cabinet secrecy. Established by Lloyd George in the administrative chaos of 1916, the Cabinet Secretariat - as it was first known - emerged as the central agency for the management of Cabinet business, working closely with the Prime Minister himself. In Sir Maurice Hankey's twenty-two-year term as Cabinet secretary, he presided over the institutionalisation of the Secretariat as an office free from partisan taint and he personally served all Britain's inter-war Prime Ministers as confidant and influential advisor.

Who are the cabinet ministers in Western Europe? Are they prepared for their tasks by the jobs which they did before - do specialists, for instance, come to take on the task of running specialist ministries? Are these ministers, on the other hand, politically prepared for being in government? Do they all go through an apprenticeship in Parliament? As a matter of fact, they do not and, in several Continental countries, not just France, but also the Netherlands, Austria, or Norway, many ministers come to office without a parliamentary background. Does this mean that they are better prepared to their tasks than British ministers who, like their Italian or Irish colleagues, all went through Parliament? What kind of career do they then follow? Do they stay in office long? Do they change jobs or not? On this, too, there are many country variations, as there are variations in terms of the "post-ministerial careers", that is to say of the jobs which, after being ministers they are able to obtain. "The Profession of Government Minister in Western Europe" looks at all these questions on the basis of a vast file covering over 2,000 ministers from 1945 to the 1980s. Although Western European countries are so similar politically in many ways, the ministerial career is vastly different - and lessons can be drawn from the differences. A specialist political science, Jean Blondell has written and edited a number of books on contemporary politics and political structures and processes. These include "Cabinets in Western Europe" and "Comparative Politics", both published by Macmillan.

The story of a woman who personified the spirit of India tells of her fight for the independence of six hundred million people and of her unceasing efforts to promote disarmament and nonalignment

Product Description: Fresh out of college, and frustrated with own generation’s political apathy, Brian Till set out to interview the former world leaders he most admired. To his surprise, they were eager to talk, and he soon found himself discussing everything from energy to terrorism to nuclear disarmament with the greatest leaders of the last twenty-five years...read more

Product Description: Daybreak is a thorough investigation of how Bush/Cheney altered the way American government works and deteriorated the Constitution and Bill of Rights. It includes clear plans for how we may reclaim democracy, declare our rights, and truly set out for a new America...read more

The controversy surrounding the publication of Richard Crossman's Cabinet Diaries (1975) brought to the fore opposing concepts of 'open' and 'closed' government within Britain's free society. While a balance has for the moment been struck concerning the secrecy of Cabinet proceedings, a historical question remains: by what process, and with what results, has official secrecy come to envelop the practices of modern Cabinet government? This book tackles that key question, drawing upon a uniquely wide range of official and private papers to examine the historical development of the Cabinet Office, the custodian of Cabinet secrecy. Established by Lloyd George in the administrative chaos of 1916, the Cabinet Secretariat - as it was first known - emerged as the central agency for the management of Cabinet business, working closely with the Prime Minister himself. In Sir Maurice Hankey's twenty-two-year term as Cabinet secretary, he presided over the institutionalisation of the Secretariat as an office free from partisan taint and he personally served all Britain's inter-war Prime Ministers as confidant and influential advisor.

Product Description: In the wake of her father's death, Rachel Manley turned inward to try to understand him and to explore the impact of those final moments. Her father, the charismatic, controversial prime minister of Jamaica, had stood at the heart of a decade of radical social reform in the 1970s...read more

As a spokesman for a country, a continent and the developing world, Thabo Mbeki plays a crucial role in world politics, but to many people he is an enigma. Is this simply because he is a secretive man, or are there complicated political factors at play? Who is the real Mbeki? In this book, multiple-award-winning journalist William Mervin Gumede chronicles Mbeki’s spectacular rise to dominate Africa’s oldest liberation movement. He explores the complex position that Mbeki occupies – following in Nelson Mandela’s footsteps, holding together an alliance with deep ideological differences, and ruling an intensely divided country.Revealing the political and personal tensions behind the scenes, Gumede explains how Mbeki has sought to mould the ANC into his image through tight control, and exposes the intrigues behind the battle for succession. Covering Mbeki’s attempts to modernize the economy and kick-start an African Renaissance, and investigating his controversial stance on issues from AIDS to Zimbabwe, the book offers invaluable insights into the arcane machinations behind political decisions that touch the lives of millions every day.

Perhaps the only politician to straddle the East and West wings of Pakistan, Suhrawardy was well aware of the centrifugal tendencies that threatened to unmake the new nation. As such, his entire career after Independence was devoted to removing the growing misunderstandings between the two wings. Ikramullah shows how the events that culminated in the collapse of democracy and the establishment of military rule in 1958 had their beginnings in the ruling cliques's maneuverings to keep Suhrawardy out of power. Their success, unfortunately, meant the end of efforts to bridge the differences between East and West Pakistan which resulted in, just eight years after the death of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the secession of East Pakistan from the West to form the independent state of Bangladesh.

Fresh insights about the shaping of Nelson Mandela's personality and public persona are uncovered in a biography that illuminates a pivotal moment in African history and explores Mandela's life and career from the perspective of a modern South Africa.

Presents a portrait of the Victorian-era prime minister and evaluates his decadent lifestyle and role in the reshaping of European politics, describing his Jewish heritage, scandalous affairs, and relationship with the queen.

Product Description: This book focuses on the identity and public personae of the dogaressa, wives of the elected doges of medieval and early modern Venice. The study traces the evolution of the public functions of the group of quasi-royal wives, rare for their visibility, during Venice's development into a regional economic and political power...read more

A behind-the-headlines exploration of the Cuban dictator's forty-year rule, presented by a chief U.S. intelligence officer, challenges beliefs about his stand-alone decision-making practices while casting light on his collaborative efforts with Raul, his younger brother and presumed successor.

A compelling portrait of the acclaimed author, war hero, publisher, and French government minister provides a definitive account of Malraux's life in which he traces his lifelong pattern of mendacity, separating myth from reality to capture a brilliant con man who became a national hero and details his real-life accomplishments as a writer and man of action. 15,000 first printing.