Winds of Change, 1914-1939. [Together with] Blast of War, 1939-1945; Tides of Fortune, 1945-1955; Riding the Storm, 1956-1959; Pointing the Way, 1959-1961; [and] At the End of the Day, 1961-1963 by MACMILLAN, Harold - 1966

London: Macmillan, 1966. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. London, Macmillan, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972 and 1973 (second reprint)/ 1973. Octavo, six volumes, [viii], 664; xvi, 765; xx, 729; x, 786; viii, 504; and x, 572 pages with (cumulatively) 4 maps and 8 cartoons plus 127 pages of plates and endpaper chronologies and maps. Cloth slightly rubbed, marked and bumped; contemporary ink ownership details in each volume; an excellent set with excellent dustwrappers (with a few light chips, and one spine sunned). The autobiography of (Maurice) Harold Macmillan (1894-1986), British Prime Minister from 1957 to 1963. 'The half-American son of a publisher, Harold Macmillan was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford and served in both World Wars. He rose quickly through Conservative ranks and, when the Conservatives were elected in 1951, he was made Minister of Housing, then Minister of Defence, Foreign Secretary and finally Chancellor of the Exchequer. When Sir Anthony Eden resigned as Prime Minister in January 1957, Macmillan came out from the wreckage of Suez to lead a demoralised Conservative party and a country that was still in the depths of turmoil.

Macmillan acknowledged that Britain's future lay with Europe, but his plans for entry into the new European Economic Community were set back when the French President General Charles de Gaulle said no to Britain's application in January 1963. Devastated, he wrote in his diary that all our policies at home and abroad are in ruins. His greatest achievement on the international scene came a few months later in August 1963, when he was heavily involved in negotiating the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, earning praise from Presidents Kennedy and Khrushchev for his patience and diplomacy. By 1963 the economy, thanks to problems with the balance of payments, was faltering. Harold was also increasingly portrayed as out of touch. The sacking of six cabinet ministers in an event that became known as the "night of the long knives" did little to refresh the government. After a series of scandals, the most damaging of which involved the minister John Profumo, he resigned in October 1963' (official UK Government website). [6 items].