Books by Francis Beckett

To buy copies of Francis Beckett’s books, either contact the publishers via the links below, or contact the author at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

New books, out in 2010-11:

How to create a successful school, March 2010 (Biteback) – 19 profiles of successful head teachers, with an examination of what factors make for success in schools.

What did the baby boomers ever do for us, July 2010 (Biteback). The baby boomers inherited peace, welfare and all the good things of the Attlee settlement. And what did they do with them? They trashed them. Why? How did it happen?

Firefighters and the Blitz, September 2010 (Merlin). The story of the National Fire Service’s origins in the devastation of the Blitz during the Second World War, commissioned by the Fire Brigades Union to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the start of the blitz..

The best Prime Ministers We Never Had, March 2011 (Biteback). Imagine that Lord Halifax accepted the job of Prime Minister which was offered to him in 1940 instead of Winston Churchill; or John Smith lived to fight the 1997 general election; or R.A. Butler beat Macmillan to the job in 1957. Would history have been different? Yes, massively, say the authors of these essays in counterfactual history, who include Labour minister Phil Woolas, former Daily Mirror political columnist Paul Routledge, and several other distinguished writers and political commentators.

Marching to the fault line – the miners’ strike and the battle for industrial Britain, (Constable and Robinson, 2009) by Francis Beckett and David Hencke. The 1984-5 miners’ strike was the great political turning point in Britain, and the nearest Britain has come to civil war in modern times. This is the first and only history of the strike, making use of new research to cast new light on how it all; happened and why it all matters.

Other Books By Fancis Beckett:

Gordon Brown, Past, Present and Future (Haus Publishing, 2007): The life of Gordon Brown, up to the point when he became Prime Minister.

The Great City Academy Fraud (Continuum, 2008)- This highly controversial and compelling book exposes the government's academies project.

Clem Attlee (Politicos, 2007) This biography of Clement Attlee, the architect of the NHS and the Welfare State, argues that he is one of only two post-war Prime Ministers who can claim to have changed the society in which we live (the other being Margaret Thatcher). First published in 1997 and updated with a new introduction, it is still the best and most complete Attlee biography available.

The Survivor - Tony Blair in peace and war (Aurum, 2009) by Francis Beckett and David Hencke.) Easily the least friendly book ever written about the former Prime Minister - Who is Tony Blair? What does he really believe? And what about Cherie Booth - often considered the real brains in the partnership, and a crucial influence over her husband?

The Rebel Who Lost His Cause - The Tragedy of John Beckett MP (Allison and Busby, 1999): Written by his son, this is a detailed biography of the left wing Labour MP who in the 1930s became one of Britain's three best known fascists.

Stalin's British Victims: The Story of Rosa Rust (Sutton Publishing, 2004) (BILL – NO WEBSITE HERE, THEY’VE GONE POUT OF BUSINESS) - This book tells the stories of four remarkable British women whose lives were scorched by Stalin's purges.

The Enemy Within - The Rise and Fall of British Communism (hardback John Murray, 1995; paperback Merlin Press, 1998.)

Laurence Olivier (1907-89) - The best short introduction available to the life and work of perhaps Britain’s greatest ever actor, and certainly its most influential.

Harold Macmillan (Haus Publishing, 2006). This short life, based on the latest available research, is the best short introduction available to the life and politics of Harold Macmillan, who became prime minister in 1957 and served until 1963. He repaired the rift between the USA and Britain created by Suez and secured for Britain co-operation on issues of nuclear defence.

Nye Bevan by Francis Beckett and Clare Beckett (Haus Publishing, 2004) - A short and readable life of the man who founded the National Health Service.

Francis Beckett is general editor of a series of 20 books, The 20 Prime Ministers of the Twentieth Century, published by Haus Publishing in autumn 2006.