There are two groups of readers who will find this book of particular interest. The first group will be students of political science who will find in it a concise and very readable account of the elaboration and development of those socialist policies that were introduced by the British Labour Party when they were elected to form the government immediately after the Second World War. Many people were surprised and shocked that Winston Churchill was not re-elected as Prime Minister in 1945 in recognition of his supreme achievements in leading the country safely through 6 years of hostilities. But it was not to be, and Attlee – A Life in Politics – explains the reasons why.The second group of readers who will find this book of particular interest (in which I include myself) are those who grew up during the war, yet were too young at the time to understand the social and political challenges of post-war reconstruction in Europe. I believe it was the entertainer, Millicent Martin, who when asked what it had been like making TV history, replied that if she had realised she was making history, she would have paid more attention at the time. And so I suspect it is with many of us: if we had known we were living through politically unique times, we might have paid more attention to what was going on.I had a personal reason for seeking out this biography of Clement Attlee. I had read somewhere that when Attlee was asked his views on religion he had answered that he accepted the Christian Ethic, but could not stand the mumbo-jumbo. Immediately I knew Attlee was my man. Attlee was subsequently asked if he was agnostic. He said he did not know!At a time when the very words ‘Liberal’ and ‘Socialist’ are considered by some to be terms of abuse with which to denigrate your political opponents, it is worth being reminded that the liberal and socialist policies introduced by the Labour Party in 1945 come closer to the Christian Ethic than the capitalist and reactionary policies of the so-called ‘religious right’ in U. S. politics in 2012.For students of political science, this new biography of Clement Attlee provides much useful information. Its author claims that his primary concern was to examine the Attlee leadership style. I believe Attlee entitled his own autobiography ‘As it Happened’; which some recent commentators have seized upon as particularly appropriate because they claim Attlee never made anything happen. But the author also points out that in an IPSOS Mori poll of 2004 Attlee was voted the greatest Prime Minister of the Twentieth Century, the same Prime Minister that Winston Churchill parodied as a ‘sheep in sheep’s clothing’. Among Attlee’s principal achievements were the introduction of a comprehensive National Insurance Scheme and National Health Service; but more controversially he presided over the decolonisation of the Indian sub-continent which led ultimately to the formation of the three independent countries, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. How did he do it? Read Attlee – A Life in Politics – and find out.John AthertonSamoa.