George Ranken Askwith was a key figure in the development of British industrial relations. Beginning his career as a barrister, he went on to work as a freelance arbitrator for the Board of Trade. As Assistant Secretary of the Railway Department under Lloyd George, he helped to avert a potentially catastrophic strike. After this, he went on to work closely with both Winston Churchill and Herbert Asquith, and served as chairman of the Committee of Production during World War I. This new biography is based on a wide range of archival sources, including government records, newspaper articles, Askwith’s personal correspondence and his wife’s private diaries. Heath presents a nuanced portrait of a man at the heart of government industrial relations at a time of considerable social and political change.

"'[provides] a wider context for an appreciation of [Askwith's] qualities and his achievements as a conciliator in collective labour disputes.'"