Lord Mason, Barnsley PIT LAD to PEER - by Brian Elliott

These are

signed by both Lord Mason and Brian Elliott.

This is the first major biography of Lord Mason of Barnsley, formerly Roy Mason MP PC, perhaps best known for his role as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland during the Troubles.  Mason was a leading figure in the Callaghan government of 1976-79 and is one of the last survivors of the Wilson cabinets of the 1960s.

Essentially the book is a detailed pictorial record of Mason’s life and times, from his childhood days in a mining community and work as a miner to ‘retirement’ as a very active Peer.  There are several hundred photographs, many of them never published before, along with detailed captions.  Each chapter starts with a time line of his life - placed in a national context; and there is a very useful overview section in which the author ‘sets the scene’ and discusses historical background. The book serves as  an extremely useful insight into the life and times of a leading Labour politician during the Sixties and Seventies.  It also offers a first-hand glimpse into the Right/Left clash in local and national Labour politics during the 1980s.

Winston Churchill was PM when Mason began his political career at Westminster and Clem Attlee was the Labour leader. In an extraordinary life he has known every subsequent Labour leader, including Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

The book was launched in November 2008 and has received very favourable reviews in the local and regional press. 

Hardback, 256pp including preliminaries.

We have a small number of SPECIAL EDITIONS of this title signed by both Lord Mason and Brian Elliott.