ABSTRACT
This essay was first published in Purnell's History of the Twentieth Century, published in parts (1968-70). Alan Taylor was the editor-in-chief and J.M. Roberts the general editor. Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914) was the major force behind imperial policies in 1895-1903. Lord Salisbury, the prime minister, once referred to the Boer War (1899-1902) as 'Joe's War'. Alan Taylor did not care for Chamberlain. In a 1977 book review he gave the view that Chamberlain was 'a democrat who was also a tyrant, a champion of the poor who lived in a lavish style'. Of his tariff reform campaign, launched in 1903, Taylor went so far as to comment, 'This campaign was not Radical; it was a precursor of Fascism. Chamberlain used every Fascist impulse, including anti-semitism'. (Observer, 15 May 1977.)
