Roy Jenkins was the author of twenty-one books, including the New York Times bestsellers Churchill and Gladstone, the latter of which won the Whitbread Prize for Biography. Active in British politics for half a century, he entered the House of Commons as a Labour member in 1948 and subsequently served as minister of aviation, home secretary, and chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1977—81 he was president of the European Commission. In 1987 he became chancellor of Oxford University and took his seat in the House of Lords as Lord Jenkins of Hill head. He also served as president of the Royal Society of Literature.