Time and Chance

'One of the great political careers of the late twentieth century' - Roy Jenkins, "Observer." James Callaghan's career in politics is unique: no other British politician has held the four great posts of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister. In his autobiography, he writes openly of the issues and major crises of the time, and conveys vividly what it was like to be in the forefront of politics in a modern democracy. Callaghan describes his relationship with the trade unions and the struggle to establish and maintain an incomes policy; the problems of law and order; the long, complex negotiations over the Common Market and arms control; and the constant battle - ultimately in vain - to prevent the devaluation of the sterling. Personalities loom large, with incisive portraits of friends and rivals, including Harold Wilson, Henry Kissinger, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. "Time and Chance" is a compelling account of life in high office, where international conflicts vie for attention with the bubbling cauldron of internal party politics. This reissued edition includes an afterword by James Callaghan's daughter, Baroness Jay, covering the years between his resignation as Labour leader and his death in 2005. '"Time and Chance" describes, with usual frankness, the terrors as well as the triumphs, the disappointments no less than the delights, of over twenty years at the top of politics.' - Roy Hattersley, "Independent".

James Callaghan was born in 1912. He was a Labour MP from 1945 to 1987, when he joined the Lords. He died in 2005.