This book provides a succinct overview of the development of the civil service since the Second World War. Adopting a broad, historical approach, it assesses the changes in organization, structure and management of the Whitehall machine, alongside the continuities in the policy and practice of public administration. Kevin Theakston draws on the full range of recent scholarship, documents in the Public Record Office, and the many postwar offical investigations and reports to provide a balanced analysis of the key themes and issues. The book will be welcomed by all interested in the development...

This book analyses the changing role of the British Foreign Secretary and presents biographical case studies of all the individual holders of that post, the policies they persued and the issues they faced, since 1974. The work of the British Foreign Secretaries from James Callaghan to Robin Cook is examined in the context of the foreign policy-making machinery, the changing environment of British foreign policy, and the internal and external political forces with which they had to contend.

Using a biographical case study approach, the chapters examine the careers, personalities, policies...

This study of leadership in the British civil service draws the lessons of how change in central government can be managed and implemented from a series of biographical studies of the acknowledged leaders in the civil service in the 19th and 20th centuries, from Charles Trevelyan, the founder of the modern civil service, to modern Mandarins such as Robert Armstrong and Margaret Thatcher's personal adviser the outsider Sir Derek Rayner. The case studies are linked to the wider themes of leadership and administrative culture in Whitehall, illustrating the patterns of change and continuity over...

Having lost an election, been thrown out by their party, or retired on grounds of ill-health, what do former British prime ministers do? In the first book to look at the lives, political roles and influence of former prime ministers, Kevin Theakston offers a comprehensive analysis of all the former prime ministers from Robert Walpole in the 18th century to Tony Blair today. This lively and informative book will appeal to those interested in British history as well as in contemporary politics. "You are very ex as an ex-prime minister," it has been said. "The telephone goes and immediately you...

Volumes of influence explores the work of a number of important books and key writers within the academic disciplines of politics and international relations. It revisits and re-evaluates some of the landmark or classic books in politics and international relations, and assesses the contribution of some of the most influential writers who have played a significant role in the development of these disciplines, who defined their subjects, set agendas and inspired. They remain significant and relevant, offering insights that help in understanding and analysing contemporary problems, issues and...

What comes next for a former leader in a democracy - a Prime Minister or President obliged to leave office because they have lost an election, come to the end of their constitutionally-fixed term, lost the backing of their party, or chosen to leave? This book analyses the role and political influence of former leaders in Western democratic states.

This book analyses the changing role of the British Foreign Secretary and presents biographical case studies of all the individual holders of that post, the policies they persued and the issues they faced, since 1974. The work of the British Foreign Secretaries from James Callaghan to Robin Cook is examined in the context of the foreign policy-making machinery, the changing environment of British foreign policy, and the internal and external political forces with which they had to contend.
Using a biographical case study approach, the chapters examine the careers, personalities, policies...