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This is the authorized life of one of the most powerful and controversial Tory politicians of the post-war era. Lord Hailsham - statesman, orator, writer, Christian and patriot had earned Mrs. Thatcher's tribute, when he finally retired in 1987, that there were few people in public life who had provided such service to his country over a span of forty years.

As Quintin Hogg, Hailsham started his public career in the famous Oxford by-election of 1938. He joined the government just before the Suez crisis in 1956 and remained a strong presence in every Tory government until his retirement, holding a variety of important posts, including Party Chairman when he famously rang the bell to toll the death of the Labour Party. The extraordinary drama of the 1963 succession to Macmillan is comprehensively revealed in this book, as is Hailsham's highly influential career in the law, where he was Lord Chancellor for twelve years after 1970.

Geoffrey Lewis has had the fullest co-operation from his subject, and the massive Hailsham archive has been open to him. His authoritative book portrays the vivid and often combative personality of the man who has justly been called the Passionate Peer, and who succeeded in bringing the values of an earlier age into the political life of today.