No comments about Margaret Thatcher: Prime Minister Indomitable.

No comments about Gladstone (Flagship Historymakers).

1 comments about Man Behind the Smile: Tony Blair and the Politics of Perversion.

1. These are the author's own phrases characterising Blair's premiership, so first a word about who he is. Leo Abse, now in his late 80's, is a retired Labour member of parliament from the mining community of South Wales. He is the author of a similar study of Margaret Thatcher, but what I had mainly remembered about him was the story of a meeting he addressed in his own locality at which the chairman referred to him as `Mr Abs'. His surname has two syllables, so he murmured in the man's ear `Call me Abs-ey', to which the chairman replied `That's very nice of you, call me Jonesy'.

   He has a fine sense of humour himself, and some of the cattier sideswipes at various figures in this book are very entertaining. This is a study from a psychoanalytic viewpoint, and it takes in not just The People's Tony himself but his wife, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, the fearsome former Downing Street media supremo Alistair Campbell, Blair's political Svengali Peter Mandelson and certain others. The book originally appeared in 1996 before Blair came to power under the title Tony Blair: the Man Behind the Smile, with updated editions in 2001 and 2003. The problem for me with a psychoanalytic account is that I do not have enough knowledge of the technique to form an independent judgment of my own. Abse's approach is distinctly partisan and hostile, as his phrases that I have used in my caption to this review make very clear. It is all easy enough to understand, it is coherent, systematic and seemingly well-researched (sources are listed at the back) but there is no question that this is a full-scale frontal attack on Blair as a politician. An analysis using this technique belittles its subject, as this book is manifestly intended to do, and ordinary detachment and fairness suggests that there must be at least some temptation, for someone fluent in the terminology, to use it to promote a point of view rather than carry out a genuinely objective enquiry.

   Abse is `old Labour' as he says himself, and he draws his inspiration from the post-war Labour government whose socialising approach he believed Blair could have emulated. Among more recent Labour figures he singles out the late leader John Smith. I had the honour of knowing John personally long before Abse did, and all I can say is that if he really was the conflict-unaverse full-blooded socialist that Abse depicts he must have changed a good deal since I used to know him. Whether Abse is precisely `left-wing' is questionable, and he is manifestly unimpressed by certain recidivist trade union leaders of the kind who made the trade union movement as deeply disliked as it became in the 1960's and 1970's. He is basically a fair-minded and decent-minded socialist who believes that Blair and his motley outfit of modernisers have, in his own words, stolen the soul of his party. He recognises explicitly that the kind of social legislation he aspires to is not going to be achieved without conflict. However as he sees fit to characterise Gordon Brown as being willing to face up to anyone except himself (Brown, that is), I suppose I can legitimately question whether Abse in his turn is really facing up to the sort of obstacles his own preferred policies confront in this day and age. This is a book review, not any kind of political statement of my own. What I would have wanted from Abse is his own honest answer to the question `Given that Britain is a member of the European Union, and given even more the extent to which governments are in the hands of international capital, do you think you will achieve anything except disaster by taking on hopeless odds?' If the political will is there, anything might indeed be possible. Can he honestly claim to detect it at this stage of the world's history?

   There are real touches of brilliance in this book and it is in the main well-written, so much so that I shall ask - can there really be such a word as `aggressivity'? There wouldn't be if I had anything to do with it. There is categorically no such word as `wreaked', the word is `wrought'; it is a solecism to use `proportions' to mean dimensions; and does he mean `atactic' or `ataxic'? I enjoyed the book thoroughly. The sincere sense of disappointment that comes through it is shared from various political standpoints, not least from the prevalent view that we have no visible alternative government.

No comments about Mr. England: The Life Story Of Winston Churchill, The Fighting Briton.

No comments about John Lambert, Parliamentary Soldier and Cromwellian Major-General, 1619-1684.

No comments about Disraeli, the Jew: Essays by Benjamin Cardozo & Emma Lazarus.

5 comments about Disraeli.

1. This masterful political biography traces the life and career of one of the most extraordinary figures of British political history, Benjamin Disraeli. In doing so it gives insight into the whole structure of nineteenth - century British political and social life.
   It is told chronologically and moves with a sure and even narrative pace. One particular helpful feature of the work is the detailed chapter- headings, which serve as a kind of summary of the work as a whole.
   The story of 'Dizzy's spectacular climb ' up the greasy pole' to the Prime - Ministership, his rivalry with Gladstone, his closeness with Queen Victoria, his brilliance as strategist in defending and extending the Empire is told with quiet sympathy by Blake.
   Also there is a close chronicling of Disraeli's personal relations, including those with his somewhat distant literary father, his especially supportive sister, and very close wife.
   Disraeli's Jewish origins , his misunderstanding of them and yet his pride in defending them are also part of the story of this sensitive, insightful and supremely 'romantic' political leader.



2. During the high tide of the Victorian era, the political life of the nation was dominated by two men, Disraeli and Gladstone. Gladstone is an obvious choice for one of the top statesmen of the era, he was elected four times to the premiership. Disraeli was not quite so fortunate. However, given the short period of time that he was in office he accomplished a great deal. He brought the tories back from the dead, passed a reform bill and managed to acquire the Suez Canal. At the Congress of Berlin, Disraeli's command of the situation even impressed Bismark (not exactly a slouch in these sorts of things). Not bad from a rather foppish young man who specialized in "Silver Fork" novels (a fictional version of lifestyles of the rich and famous in the 19th century).

   Blake's book is the best one on the subject of Benjamin Disraeli. The complex story of the novelist turned politican is brought out in all of its facets. Disraeli was probably one of the most interesting people to be prime minister (after perhaps Churchill and Walpole) and Blake's book shows the reader how he did it.




3. Blake's Disraeli is not only flawless in its interpretation of Disraeli but also in its style. It is a work by which all other biographies must be judged. Simply put, it is the perfect biography.



4. This is a work of considerable scholarship which chronicles the life of one of Great Britain's outstanding statesmen. The book covers the political life of Disraeli admirably, but also gives a view of the private Disraeli: confidant of Victoria, prolific novelist, inventor of the crouton.



5. Robert Blake's study of Benjamin Disreali, twice Prime Minister and prolific novelist, is one of the best I've read. Both Disreali's personal life and political career are handled with respect, and there is no unnecessary conjecture to mislead the reader. The resulting biography is both fascinating and informative, advancing chronologically from Disreali's parentage to his death and detailing the aspects of his personality and the extraordinary good luck that enabled him to rise so far in the British political system. Throughout, the reader is offered anecdotes from acquaintances, excerpts from letters, and portions of the speeches that gave Disreali his reputation as a matchless orator. Particularly touching are the stories illustrating the friendship he and his sister shared, and the mannerisms which characterized his personality. Overall, Robert Blake displays great knowledge of both Disreali and the politics that he loved so much. Therein lies the book's only fault, from an amateur's perspective; at times the references to the system can confuse a reader not fully familiar with British politics. However, any admirer of this great statesman cannot afford to miss reading this work, which already shows signs of becoming a necessary reference. Any historian, amateur or not, could easily view this volume as indispensable.

No comments about Winston Churchill Studies in Statesmanship: Studies in Statesmanship.

No comments about Winston Churchill: A Biographical Companion.

No comments about WINSTON AND CLEMENTINE: THE TRIUMPH OF THE CHURCHILLS.