| Synopsis: |
Every politician needs inspiration and ideals in this cynical age. Frank Field's Anglican faith provides his inspiration, and a foundation for a set of ideals known as English Idealism, put forward by T. H. Green. These ideals built on Christianity to form a widely shared public ideology. As a leading politician and churchman, Frank Field illustrates his understanding of English Idealism through the life and work of five people who have inspired his political career. He looks at two Archbishops of Canterbury - the Temples, father and son - who helped to build up this public theology; George Bell who, as Bishop of Chichester during World War II, had the courage to be a lone voice campaigning against the policy of obliteration bombing of German cities; William Beveridge - this country's key reformer of welfare; Eleanor Rathbone, one of the greatest MPs, who campaigned to build an inclusive citizenship. |