The Impossible Office? : The History of the British Prime Minister - Revised and Updated

Why has the office of Prime Minister endured longer than any other democratic political office? Sir Anthony Seldon, historian of Number 10 Downing Street, explores the intimate details and experiences of our PMs – including the recent churn of Johnson, Truss and Sunak – discussing who has been most effective and why.

A Times and Sunday Times Book of the Year. The recent political chaos enfolding Downing Street provides the framing for the extraordinary story of the office of Prime Minister, and how and why it has endured longer than any other democratic political office in world history. Sir Anthony Seldon, historian of Number 10, explores the lives and careers, crises and scandals, and successes and failures of our great Prime Ministers from Robert Walpole to Clement Attlee and Margaret Thatcher, up to the recent churn of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. Seldon discusses which of our PMs have been most effective and why, as well as probing the changing relationship between the Monarchy and the Prime Minister in intimate detail. A celebration of the humanity, frailty, work and achievements of 57 remarkable individuals who averted revolution and civil war, leading the country through times of peace, crisis and war.