Red cloth binding with gilt titleand banding on the spine. Dimensions are for one volume.

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Please view our photographs. A complete two-volume set of the War Memoirs of David Lloyd George, published by Odhams Press in 1938, is a classic piece of 20th-century political history. This specific “New Edition” consolidated his extensive recollections into a heavy, cloth-bound two-volume set featuring a blind-stamped portrait and a gold-foiled signature of the WWI Prime Minister on the covers. 

Market Value & Evaluation

For a copy in Good condition, the current secondary market value generally ranges from £40 to £50.

• The £40–£50 Range (Standard/Good): This is the typical retail expectation for a complete set showing minor signs of age, such as slight fading to the spine cloth, minor edge wear, or light tanning to the inner pages. Multiple copies in similar conditions are actively listed by antiquarian booksellers like AbeBooks.co.uk between £30 and £32. 

The content structure of the 1938 Odhams Press two-volume set condenses David Lloyd George’s original, massive six-volume work into two heavily packed books spanning over 2,100 pages. It covers the entire political and military landscape of World War I from his unique vantage point. 

Volume I: The Gathering Storm & The Rise to Power

The first volume spans from the diplomatic origins of the conflict up through Lloyd George’s transition to the premiership. It focuses heavily on the structural and logistical failures of the early war effort: 

• The Coming of the War: Detailed commentary on the pre-war political landscape, the Anglo-French Entente, and the diplomatic friction that led to the July Crisis. 
• The Ministry of Munitions: A massive section where he documents his fight to remedy the infamous 1915 “Shell Scandal,” completely reorganising British industry to scale up ammunition and artillery production. 
• Political Fractures: His fierce political clashes with Prime Minister H.H. Asquith over the direction of the war, culminating in Asquith’s resignation and Lloyd George taking over the coalition government in December 1916.
• The Military Outlook of 1917: Setting the stage for tactical transitions, handling early submarine warfare panics, and preparing the empire for a long-haul conflict. 

Volume II: The Western Front, Strategic Disputes & Victory

The second volume covers his years as Prime Minister leading up to the 1918 Armistice. It is widely remembered for its sharp, uncompromising, and highly combative tone against the military establishment: 

• The Anti-Haig Offensive: A scathing, retrospective assessment of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. Lloyd George explicitly criticises Haig’s tactical stubbornness, his “blindness to unpleasant facts,” and the heavy expenditure of human life during the Somme and Passchendaele offensives.
• The Fight for Unified Command: Highlighting his political battles to establish a unified Allied military command structure under French General Ferdinand Foch, which he argues was the turning point for victory.
• Global Diplomacy & Peace: Insights into the entry of the United States into the war, navigating the Russian Revolution’s impact on the Eastern Front, and his preliminary reflections on the Paris Peace Conference.