Austen Chamberlain and the Burden of Expectation

From his birth in 1863 Austen Chamberlain was groomed for the highest public office by his father Joseph Chamberlain - one of the great political figures of the Victorian and Early Edwardian age. 

But Austen never escaped from his father's shadow and his promise was never fulfilled. Although he held major positions in the India Office, the Admiralty and the Treasury like his father, he never became Prime Minister. 

Why was Austen the "nearly man" who is now largely forgotten, while his younger and less-favoured bother, Neville, reached the pinnacle of power?

In Austen Chamberlain and the Burden of Expectation, historian and author Andrew Reekes explores this "golden boy" of the Chamberlain Dynasty who failed to achieve his father's expectations.