Whilst serving in the prestigious post of Viceroy of India (1926-1931), Lord Irwin (later the Earl of Halifax) was kept informed about political events in Britain by frequent letters from shrewd political insiders. These private and previously unpublished letters offer a frank account from within the highest political circles of the Baldwin government (1924-29) and the serious crisis in the Conservative Party which followed (1929-31). Of great depth and richness, this collection is an essential historical source for British history between the two World Wars.

Stuart Ball is Professor of Modern British History at the University of Leicester, and a leading authority on the history of the Conservative Party. His previous books include Winston Churchill (British Library, 2003) and Portrait of a Party: The Conservative Party in Britain 1918-1945 (Oxford University Press, 2013).

1. 1926 : the general strike and the coal dispute; 2. 1927 : the Trade Disputes Act and the Prayer Book controversy; 3. 1928 : the de-rating scheme and the liberal revival; 4. 1929 : the general election and the Irwin declaration; 5. 1930 : the Conservative Party crisis and the Round Table Conference; 6. 1931 : the survival of Baldwin and the Irwin-Gandhi pact;