THIS is the first volume of a full-length biography of the man who was, by common consent, the outstanding leader of the trade union movement and the most powerful figure to emerge in this country from purely working-class origins. The work was undertaken at the invitation of the late Arthur Deakin, and is the fruit of several years' research for which the author has access to a large amount of hitherto inaccessible material including the archives of the trade union movement and the correspondence and papers left behind by Bevin.

Amongst the contributions to recent history in this country contained in this volume are detailed accounts of the General Strike of 1926 and the political crisis of 1931, drawn from the new material. Through the personality of its most powerful figure, Mr. Bullock traces the rise of the trade union movement from the days when trade union leaders were regarded as irresponsible agitators to the point where Churchill invited Bevin to become a member of the War Cabinet, and placed in his hands the responsibility of mobilising the manpower of the country and of handling industrial relations during the critical years of the war.

The present volume ends with Bevin's entry into the Coalition Government in May 1940 and will be followed by a second volume covering his years as Minister of Labour and National Service and as Foreign Secretary.