Roy Jenkins was the author of many books, including Churchill and Gladstone, which won the Whitbread Prize for Biography. Active in British politics for half a century, he entered the House of Commons in 1948 and subsequently served as Minister of Aviation, Home Secretary, and Chancellor of the Exchequer; he was also the President of the European Commission and Chancellor of Oxford University. In 1987 he took his seat in the House of Lords. He died in January 2003.
There is no doubt that he has surpassed himself. This is the biography of the year. -- Robert McCrum * Observer * This is a first class, well-sustained work of history and a masterpiece of biography. -- Andrew Roberts * Sunday Telegraph * Lord Jenkins of Hillhead is an outstanding biographer . . . it has the narrative power, sweep and sparkle of the author in his prime. -- John Grigg * Times *