H. H. Asquith

H. H. Asquith was the British Liberal prime minister from 1908 to 1916. His government introduced major social and constitutional reforms, confronted the House of Lords and Irish Home Rule crisis, and led Britain through the first half of the First World War before losing office.

In Robert Harris’s Precipice, Prime Minister H. H. Asquith writes constantly to Venetia Stanley, sharing political confidences while his government confronts Irish Home Rule, suffrage, cabinet rivalry and the crisis moving Europe towards war.