This is Neville Chamberlain's personal copy of J. Shield Nicholson's "A Project of Empire" with his bookplate on the front pastedown. This is particularly interesting because the theme of Nicholson's book centers around Adam Smith's laissez-faire ideas of economics and Chamberlain, who was first a business man and then served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Ramsey Macdonald's goverment. Also about the time of this book's publication Chamberlain started to become politically active and in 1911 he successfully stood as a Liberal Unionist for Birmingham City Council.