'The House of Lords', said Lloyd George in one of his great platform orations of the years before 1914, 'is not the watchdog of the Constitution; it is Mr Balfour's poodle.' And it yapped at the heels of the Liberal Government of 1906 until one of the most bitter and prolonged constitutional struggles of modern English history was precipitated. This is the definitive account of the constitutional struggle between the Liberal Government of the early years of the 20th century and the House of Lords, one of the dramatic periods of the last century's political life. The battle started with the introduction of the 'People's Budget' of 1909 and continued through two general elections until in 1911 the Lords finally accepted the Parliament bill by a majority of seventeen. 'A brilliant and instructive book' A. J. P. Taylor 'This is a very good book - wise, readable, and full of those touches which betoken a lively mind.' Sunday Times