Denis Judd – författare

The British experience in India began in earnest over four hundred years ago, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. For many years the English interlopers and traders who made contact with the subcontinent were viewed by Indians as little more than pirates and potentially troublesome conquering barbarians. After a series of titanic struggles against the French and various local rulers during the eighteenth century, by the end of the Napoleonic Wars Britain had gained mastery of the subcontinent. This period, and the century and a half that followed, saw two powerful cultures locked in an often bloody battle over political control, land, trade, and a way of life.Denis Judd tells the fascinating story of the remarkable British impact upon India. All aspects of this long and controversial relationship are discussed, such as the first tentative contacts between East and West, the foundation of the East India Company in 1600, the Victorian Raj in all its pomp and splendour, Gandhi's revolutionary tactics to overthrow the Raj and restore Indian to the Indians, and Lord Mountbatten's 'swift surgery of Partition' in 1947, creating the two independent Commonwealth states of India and Pakistan. Against this epic backdrop, and using many revealing contemporary accounts, Denis Judd explores the consequences of British rule for both rulers and ruled. Were the British intent on development or exploitation? Were they the 'civilizing' force they claimed? What were Britain's greatest legacies: democracy and the rule of law, or cricket and an efficient railway system? Easy answers are avoided in this immensely readable, lively, and authoritative book.

Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914) was a towering personality in an age of political giants. Disraeli, Gladstone, Lord Salisbury, Winston Churchill and Lloyd George all flourished during the span of his career, but he was not outshone by any of them. Possessed of enormous energy he made a profound mark on Victorian and Edwardian politics; his pugnacious, demagogic style aroused either adulation or hatred, never indifference. But he was a man of abundant contradictions as Denis Judd skilfully illuminates: the wealthy industrialist who espoused Radicalism; the luxury-loving Nonconformist who championed the downtrodden; the architect of organized Liberalism who left Gladstone and split the Liberal Party in 1886; the scornful critic of privilege and peerage who became a vital vote-winner for Lord Salisbury and the Tories; a creator of Unionism who helped to send the Unionist party to the electoral massacre of 1906; the alleged Republican who became the greatest Imperialist of his time. In short, Joseph Chamberlain is one of those fascinating larger-than-life figures about whom the final word can never be written but who need to be frequently reassessed. In this biography, Denis Judd not only provides the best account so far of his extraordinary life but casts new light on such key issues of the time as electoral and social reform, Irish Home Rule, the Boer War and tariff reform.'. . . the best short study of Chamberlain that has so far appeared . . .' Asa Briggs, Guardian'. . .an excellent book, readable, clear, cool, scholarly, realistic and based on careful documentary research. . . Denis Judd's first class biography reveals as much of the truth as we are ever likely to get.' Robert Blake, Sunday Times'Denis Judd writes easily and with humour, presenting Chamberlain through the eyes of both his critics and admirers. No significant aspect of Chamberlain's work or personality is omitted.' Julian Amery, Sunday Telegraph

Rufus Isaacs was in his day the first commoner to rise to the rank of marquess since the Duke of Wellington. Born into a lively Jewish family, he left school aged 14, yet made his name as a brilliant QC before being elected to the Commons as a Liberal in 1904. Smeared during the Marconi scandal of 1913 he survived to be appointed Lord Chief Justice, and elevated to the peerage in 1914. He would go on to be Ambassador to the United States, Viceroy of India, and Foreign Secretary. For this major work, first published in 1982, Denis Judd drew upon private papers in order to place Rufus Isaacs' complex career in perspective and so provide an overdue reassessment of one of the most outstanding public figures of the twentieth century.'Excellent.' A.J.P. Taylor, Observer'A lucid and revealing book' Geoffrey Moorhouse, Times'The best biography [of Lord Reading] to have appeared so far.' Robert Blake, Evening Standard

First published in 1968, Balfour and the British Empire displayed Denis Judd's acute perception both of Britain's imperial history and Arthur Balfour's puzzling personality.Balfour's political career spanned the years from 1874 to 1929, during which time he saw Britain's acquisition of a new colonial empire, the disastrous Boer War, the beginning of India's progress towards independence, and the emergence of the Dominions as equal partners in the British Commonwealth. Towards many imperial problems Balfour showed a far-sightedness and a discernment which enabled him to encourage essential reform and also to point out paths of broader imperial development.'An arresting, controversial study.' Sunday Telegraph'A well-documented and readable book.' Rab Butler, Spectator'An excellent study of British Imperial ideas; [Judd's] book is firmly based on an astute handling of material and a sensible and dispassionate presentation of it.' Times Literary Supplement

Jawarharlal Nehru played a crucial part in shaping Indian nationalism and in the creation of modern India. His life encompassed the high-noon of the British Raj, but also its collapse and the creation of a Commonwealth of independent states. As India's first prime minister he grappled with daunting internal problems, yet gave his country a clear identity in international affairs. One of the ironies of his career was that the dedicated democrat and social reformer was also the founder of a great, and sometimes autocratic, political dynasty.

The Boer War of 1899-1902 was an epic of heroism and bungling, cunning and barbarism, with an extraordinary cast of characters - including Churchill, Rhodes, Conan Doyle, Smuts, Kipling, Gandhi, Kruger and Kitchener. The war revealed the ineptitude of the British military and unexpectedly exposed the corrupt underside of imperialism in the establishment of the first concentration camps, the shooting of Boer prisoners-of-war and the embezzlement of military supplies by British officers. This acclaimed book provides a complete history of the Boer War - from the first signs of unrest to the eventual peace. In the process, it debunks several of the myths which have grown up around the conflict and explores the deadly legacy it left for southern Africa.

George VI was the man not born to be king. He nonetheless rescued the British monarchy in the aftermath of the abdication crisis and cemented its prestige with his well-judged performance during World War II and the Blitz. In this acclaimed biography, Denis Judd tells the story of Prince Bertie's transformation into King George VI including his struggle with a crippling shyness and sense of inadequacy, exacerbated by the stammer which was the focus of the Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. His marriage to the self-assured and supportive Elizabeth Bowes-Lyons and his unexpected accession to the throne in 1936 changed the direction of the young prince's life for good. Once on the throne, it was he who bore the weighty responsibility for restoring the nation's confidence in their monarchy following his elder brother's abdication, and for maintaining morale during the darkest days of World War II, when, together with Winston Churchill, his dignified presence functioned as a beacon of reassurance to civilians and military alike.Denis Judd provides a fascinating, if sometimes controversial, reassessment of the man who, quite unexpectedly, came to occupy an extraordinary position in a time of unprecedented change.

British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston has enjoyed a rakish reputation as a womanizer, a careless aristocrat and the apostle of big-stick diplomacy. His lengthy life linked the American Revolution and the Assasination of Lincoln, the French Revolution and the birth of the future of King George V, the age of Pitt with the days of Gladstone and Disraeli. His political career brought him three times to the Foreign Office and twice to the Premiership. He set out as a dutiful Conservative, became the darling of Radicals trhoughout Europe, and ended his career as ''Old Pam'', the personification of British courage and lion-heartedness. But there was more Palmerston than bluster and patriotism, as Judd clearly shows in this sympathetic, but critical, biography.