Bishop George Bell always felt that the Church must endeavour to meet the problems of the modern world. He was thus foremost in applying the precepts of the Christian faith to national and international issues. George Bell very often raised his voice in the House of Lords (of which he was a distinguished member from December 1937 till January 1958) against class and racial hatred, against war, and against totalitarianism, and spoke for the innocent and helpless victims of persecution. Complete texts of all Bell s House of Lords speeches are presented here, published for the first time in one...

Albert Venn Dicey (1835-1922) was elected to the Vinerian professorship of English Law in the University of Oxford in 1882. Dicey established himself as a great expert on constitutional history when in 1885 he published his Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution, a major classic on the British constitutional system. Dicey s writings have achieved an almost canonical status, and his views are judged almost entirely on this volume. However Dicey developed his views further and extensively in a series of lectures he delivered in the late 1890s in which he focused his...

Peter Raina s House of Lords Reform recounts the long struggle to bring an ancient institution up to date. The first volume ended in 1937, as crisis overwhelmed Europe. Reform issues were not forgotten, however. This second volume continues the story, presenting a wealth of illuminating records, a great many of them published here for the first time.
The 4th Marquess of Salisbury planned changes to the Lords even before the war s end. Further proposals followed after the establishment of the Labour government in 1945. Fearful that its legislation would be blocked, Labour amended...