The Woman Who Helped Win The War
The Woman who Helped Win the War tells the story of the multiple welfare campaigns conducted in 1914-1918 by Margaret Lloyd George, wife of Prime Minister David Lloyd George, “the Man who Won the War”.
With 87 illustrations.
In addition to her campaign to supply “comforts” for the troops, she campaigned for safe havens for sailors, for healthcare for the wounded as well as for mothers and children; for the food and economy campaigns to support a country living on short rations; for temperance; and in recruiting men and women to volunteer to “do their bit”.
The book shines a light on the country’s unprecedented upsurge in voluntary work, alongside state support and compulsion in a time of crisis, in an era where Britain welfare state was being shaped. People gave generously even though as war dragged on charity fatigue set in. She worked tirelessly to exploit her privileged position in Downing Street to support the work of others.
The prequel to the author’s 2022 book The Campaigns of Margaret Lloyd George on Margaret Lloyd George’s unprecedented peacetime political campaigns, this new book draws on the correspondence, the archived campaign Minutes, the contemporary press reports, and recent researchers’ analyses of wartime volunteering and welfare, bringing to life not just the great efforts made across the country, but also the contentious debates that inevitably marked a time of difficult political, economic and social choices in a time of great crisis. A time of food rationing, of conscription, of relentless slaughter on the battlefields, and of the urgency to support the thousands of returning wounded soldiers and sailors, in so many cases, handicapped for life.
From the kitchens of the East End to the drawing rooms of Downing Street, on speaking platforms, and on the streets of London selling flags to raise money for the comforts of the troops, in the hospital wards, on the silver screen, and in the press, Margaret Lloyd George cajoled, provoked, encouraged, comforted, and worked for her causes all with humour and firmness.
Of course thousands of women across the country more than “did their bit”, demonstrating by example at a time when women’s suffrage was edging close to its goal. Margaret Lloyd George was just one of those many women, but, alongside her husband, David Lloyd George, “the Man Who Won the War”, she exploited her unique opportunities to the full.
From Advance reviews for The Woman Who Helped Win the War by Richard Rhys O'Brien
‘A long overdue look at the woman behind the great man.’
Dan Snow
‘She was a shining example of how to find a distinctive yet loyal role as a political spouse; in her case, of such an eminent but egocentric politician.’
Rachel Smith and Vince Cable
‘It is often forgotten how voluntary action on the home front added to and supported Britain’s armed forces during the First World War. Richard O’Brien’s new book adds significantly to the scholarship on this subject as well as demonstrating how significant individuals, many of them women, were at the forefront of this vital addition to wartime solidarity and social capital.’
Dr Peter Grant, City St George’s University of London, and author of Philanthropy and Voluntary Action in the First World War
‘This exciting volume is an admirable companion study to the same author’s The Campaigns of Margaret Lloyd George (Y Lolfa, 2022) which brought to the fore her active political campaigning during Lloyd George’s peacetime Premiership from 1916 to 1922. This present work focuses on her key role as the dedicated wife of the wartime Prime Minister, considering mainly her work in relation to several welfare campaigns, the National Fund for Welsh Troops, sailors, food and economy, temperance and society, and hospitals and healthcare. It casts much valuable light on many aspects of the Great War and contains many striking illustrations.’
Dr J. Graham Jones, Director Emeritus, National Library of Wales
‘Based on wide-ranging research and with fascinating detail, this book reveals the immense contribution to charities and the welfare of the British people during the demanding period of the First World War undertaken by Dame Margaret Lloyd George, once fittingly described as “the uncrowned Queen of Wales”.’
Gwyn Jenkins, author of A Welsh County at War
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Richard is a former international economist, scenario planner and strategist, author of Global Financial Integration: the End of Geography, editor of more than a dozen books, former council member of Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs), and of the Royal Economic Society, and currently on the Advisory Board of The Annual Register on World Events. In addition to releasing six albums of his own songs, his online study www.TheDinnerPuzzle.com focuses on Lady Margaret Rhondda and the pioneering women of the 1930s.