MICHAEL G. FRY provides a fresh and illuminating perspective on early twentieth-century British politics in this study of the apprenticeship in foreign affairs of the nation's World War I leader, David Lloyd George. It is the first of two volumes concerned with every aspect of Lloyd George's involvement with foreign policy during more than a half-century of public life.

The crucial stages in the educational process were the Boer War, the debates over naval preparedness and continental strategy, the Agadir crisis, the decision for war in 1914, and the challenge of the war itself. In tracing Lloyd George's reactions to these issues and events, first as backbench MP and then as cabinet minister, Professor Fry demolishes the stereotype of the Welsh radical and pacifist transformed into the supreme warlord and triumvir of Versailles. He shows how, almost from the outset, Lloyd George wavered between different poles of thought, frequently compromised his position with typical aplomb, and sought to fuse "Little Englander" assumptions with the requirements of national and imperial security. The outcome was a complex and never fully stable integration of ideas, entirely characteristic of the man. An awareness of the unresolved, constantly evolving nature of Lloyd George's opinions and beliefs, and a keen appreciation of his elusive personality, are notable features of this stimulating contribution to our understanding of a great statesman and his times.