ODD Couples

Lord Radice was Labour MP for Durham North and Chairman of the powerful Treasury Committee until he was appointed a Life Peer in 2001. His previous books include Trio: Inside the Blair, Brown, Mandelson Project; Offshore: Britain and the European Idea (both I.B.Tauris); Friends and Rivals: Crosland, Jenkins and Healey ('the best political book of the year' - Independent on Sunday); Diaries: 1980 - 2001 (shortlisted for Channel 4 Political Book of the Year in 2004) and The Tortoise and the Hares: Attlee, Bevin, Cripps, Dalton, Morrison. Southern Discomfort (Fabian Society, 1992) is regarded as one of the most influential political analyses of recent years. He brings to his works the skills of a historian and the insights of a politician.

• Introduction Finest HoursChurchill and Attlee New Jerusalem Bevin and Morrison Never had it so Good Macmillan and Butler Into EuropeWilson and Heath Thatcher's Revolution Thatcher and Whitelaw New LabourBlair and Brown Epilogue: Peacetime Coalition Cameron and Clegg

'Giles Radice has a quartet of special gifts. He is a skilful practicing politician, a top-flight political historian who naturally blends his analysis with a sensitive feel for the biographical and an acute eye for revealing combinations that make the rest of us think again about what we thought we knew. That is why this book is a treat.' - Peter Hennessy, Attlee Professor of Contemporary History 'Giles Radice has had the original idea of pairing leading politicians who influenced their era. The result is not only a fascinating and enjoyable read but also a stimulating one, as he distinguishes between initiators and facilitators, both necessary and often complimentary in successful governments.' - Peter Riddell, Director of the Institute for Government