"Peter Ackers' biography of Hugh Clegg is an excellent account of how one significant intellectual moved from communism to social democracy. Clegg then became a key player in building the post-1945 system of industrial relations and fighting a rearguard action against its demolition by Margaret Thatcher. So, although he is currently much less well known, this biography made me think that Clegg should be considered alongside Keynes as a major intellectual influence on public life in the period." Dr. Alastar J Reid, Cambridge University
"Hugh Clegg was the pre-eminent industrial relations scholar in the post-war era. His analysis of the system of industrial relations was path breaking, focussing on voluntarism and pluralism
and influenced management pratice and government policy. Clegg was a skilled arbitrator, called in to resolve national disputes. Peter Ackers's comprehensive study helps us understand Clegg's motives, and beliefs in collectivism, and the challenge of HRM." Professor John Purcell
"This book provides not only an astute study of one of Britain's most important industrial relations scholars in terms of both research and influence on public policy, but also provides insights into the way in which the foundations of industrial relations as a field of study developed during the post-WW2 era... Peter Ackers demonstrates the important role that scholars, like Hugh Clegg, can play not only in shaping public policy to create a fairer and more productive system of work and industrial relations but also by developing the next generation of scholars and practitioners." Russell Lansbury,
Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources"[This book] is a carefully researched biography of Hugh Clegg, the much delayed outcome of a project that began two decades ago. It is certainly far more than the 'intellectual biography' of the subtitle, covering aspects of Clegg's life which will certainly be unfamiliar to most readers. This is undoubtedly an impressive achievement..." Richard Hyman
, LSE, Industrial Relations Journal"...this is in any case an impressive volume, the result of many years' research and engagement by Ackers with the life and scholarship of Clegg and the last in a pretty long line of publications by him on these topics. For anyone wishing to learn more about Clegg, about the construction of industrial relations as a field of scholarship and about industrial relations policy in the post-war decades, it holds much that will be of interest." Ruth Dukes,
Industrial Law Journal
