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JENKINS**, ROY: : A Life at the Centre. [Author SIGNED copy.]

LONDON.MACMILLAN,1991.

ISBN 03335514648.

UK,thick 8vo HB+dw/dj,SIGNED,1st edn.FINE/VG. No owner inscrptn,but author's handwritten spidery,black ink,dated presentation inscrptn+dedication: '(illegible/ indecipherable) for Michael Riley and George (?) with best wishes Roy Jenkins - 17: x : 91.' to ffe,no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean, glossy laminated colour+b/w photographic illustrated dw/dj; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners.Small nick with some reciprocal loss,and a creased/wrinkled abrasion/tear - no loss - approx halfway down,to the head and the centre of spine/backstrip respectively.Spine/backstrip also has light indentations/impressions and miniscule scoring, as do both panels of the dw/dj.Top+fore-edges lightly aged/toned - as usual/normal - but generally clean; contents bright,tight and clean also - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners.Bright,clean,publisher's original,plain dark green cloth boards with bright,crisp, blocked gilt letters to spine/backstrip,sharp corners and apart from SIGNED ffe,immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,thick 8vo HB+dw/dj, SIGNED,1st edn,vii-xiiipp+3-658pp [paginated] includes separate contents+illus lists/tables, author preface,Pts 1-4 (covering 1920- 1990), 32pp contemporary b/w photographs in 4 blocks of 8pp apiece,between pp130/1,pp274/5,pp418/9 and pp 586/7 respectively,references,an index and picture credits; plus [unpaginated] half-title+ title pages,and dedication to his wife Jennifer. Described hard but fairly and honestly. Still,overall an acceptable copy. This is the absorbing story of a man who combined a wide social and literary life with a political panache that nearly made him Prime Minister. From his days spent helping to decode the Enigma ciphers during WW2 to his election as Chancellor of Oxford University,Roy Jenkins has led a life of variety and drama.After putting his liberalising stamp on the sixties as a reforming Home Secretary,he then earned a lasting reputation as a determined and successful Chancellor of the Exchequer in an atmosphere of crisis. Achieving for a time an unexpected (to him at least) dominance of the House of Commons,Roy Jenkins was regarded as Harold Wilson's heir. But as the Labour Party drifted further to the left,he first resigned its deputy leadership and then withdrew from Parliament to become,in 1977,President of the European Commission. There he launched the controversial European Monetary System and witnessed Mrs Thatcher's stormy arrival on the European scene. He returned to Britain to co-found the Social Democratic Party and,after his victory in the Hillhead by-election,to lead it.Lord Jenkins ends his revelatory autobiography with his account of the SDP's successes and failures,and the characters behind it. Lord Jenkins is a British politician at home equally in the chambers of power and the world of letters.A leading Labour figure for 35 years, serving as Home Secretary twice and as Chancellor of the Exchequer.Narrowly missing the premiership,he always seemed to be slightly out of step with much of his party; he was both more pragmatic and less doctrinaire.Eventually, Jenkins became the leader of the Social Democratic Party,which during the early 1980s looked capable of forming a viable third-party government,in combination with the Liberals. As the author of a number of political biographies,Jenkins produces polished prose that throws much light on puzzling passages in postwar British history - the careers of George Brown,Harold Wilson and David Owen,for instance. Jenkins also recounts his frequent visits to the U.S. and vivid meetings with LBJ,JFK and an appallingly frank and alarming J. Edgar Hoover. The book provides a greater sense of the cut and thrust at the upper levels of power - and of the astonishing impact of the British press - than do most political memoirs,though the length and detail may daunt readers.Regarded as the best book of its kind since Denis Healey's 1991 memoir,The Time of My Life.For Americans who follow British politics closely,Jenkins's autobiography is essential reading.His career took him through every major postwar event - from Bevanism and the Gaitskellite struggle to the European Community and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) effort to break the mould - and most senior offices.The feel he gives for the inside world of British and Labour politics has rarely been surpassed.The story he tells is detailed, gracious in judgment,and marked by a generosity of spirit. Given the battles he fought and the people he dealt with,his gracious, temperate tone may come as a surprise.A first-rate autobiography by one of America's best British friends - a man no longer with us. Please contact seller,because of the weight and the value of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,SIGNED,1st edn.
for Michael Riley and George (?) with best wishes Roy Jenkins - 17: x : 91.'

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