In a partly-fictionalised account, this book recounts the dramatic story of the 1945 General Election – an event that, to the surprise of many, saw the decisive defeat of wartime hero Winston Churchill and the election of Britain’s first majority Labour government.

Drawing on a rich array of diaries, biographies, and autobiographies, it vividly brings to life the gripping personal and political dramas of key figures such as Churchill, Attlee, Morrison, Wilkinson, and Bevin – stories as compelling as any work of melodramatic fiction.

Innovatively, the book also makes extensive use of the Mass Observation Archive – including diaries, directives, and field reports – to capture the voices of ordinary people who watched the unfolding events with a mixture of awe, anticipation, and apprehension.

Robert Garner is Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of Leicester. His PhD thesis focused on the history of the Labour Party. He has published widely on a variety of academic topics — including party politics, environmental politics, and the politics and ethics of animal protection — with publishers such as Oxford University Press, Columbia University Press, Polity, and Palgrave.