Attlee: A Life in Politics [Hardcover]

Having seen the review of this work by Roy Hattersley in Saturday's Guardian, I felt moved to add my own, admittedly much smaller voice. Mr Hattersley's criticism of Thomas-Symonds is unrelenting, but it seems to proceed on the false assumption that A Life in Politics is another revisionist attempt to 'patronize' Attlee and belittle both his political talent his achievements. For myself, I found the work to be both meticulously researched and politically aware. The most serious accusation that Mr Hattersley levels in his review, which is that Thomas-Symonds apparently believes that 'dumping' Attlee would have made Labour more likely to be 'the natural party of government', appears to have no basis within the text whatsoever. It is simply not a claim that I picked up from reading the work.

Perhaps, from his position as, for want of a better phrase, a 'Labour grandee' concerned quite rightly with protecting the legacy of the postwar movement, Mr Hattersley assumes that any of the new breed of left-leaning academics who are in any way critical must in fact be seeking to destroy that legacy. That was clearly the very opposite of Thomas-Symonds' inetntion. While the book does point out his subject's limitations, this is obviously a work which makes a positive case supporting Attlee's billing as Britain's greatest post-war Prime Minister, without reading like a sycophantic tribute piece.

The picture presented of Attlee is nuanced, perceptive, and above all detailed. Where Thomas-Symonds makes judgements, they appear to be sound (for example, his criticism on the delay in identifying the Indian partition must surely be right, and his critique of Attlee's handling of the Bevan-Gaitskill split is all the more sound because Thomas-Symonds ascribes it to a failure of Attlee to deploy what was perhaps his best skill, that is, to form a compromise).

The work is notable for its attention to detail. The reader learns of Attlee's comfortable, middle-class, public school and Christian upbringing; of his enduring affection for Haileybury, his early days doing social work in the East End following his abandonment of a career at the Bar, then the formation of his political ambitions. In an attempt to portray the man as well as his deeds, Thomas-Symonds draws heavily on letters from Attlee to his brother Tom, which give a revealing picture of his views on both his work and his colleagues. Similarly, through quotations from Hansard we learn of Attlee's public stances and significantly the kinds of issues he chose to address in his days as a young Parliamentarian. In fact, Mr Hattersley quotes the example of Attlee's directive on the disassembly of telephones for cleaning as evidence of Thomas-Symonds' apparently 'patronising' approach, calling his 'emphasis on the Pooterish prelude to greatness'... 'irritating'.

This book is, however, truly a study of a life in politics, and that Attlee went on to be the 'statesman... who changed the world', to use Mr Hattersley's phrase, is in no sense whatsoever neglected or diminished in the text. Mr Hattersley did award Thomas-Symonds 'high marks for meticulous accuracy' (before alleging a 'failure of judgment (sic)'), and perhaps it is the 'telephone instrument' analogy which best describes this work. Thomas-Symonds certainly attempted to examine the materials and components that made up a leader who did perhaps more than any other to shape (rather than shatter) the society we live in today, and his judgements in reconstructing Attlee, far from being the 'hatchet job' that Mr Hattersley appears to have assumed in his own, are clearly those of a skilled biographical technician.

Attlee by Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds is a very good book about one of the great British Prime Ministers. It is well-written, fast-poaced and informative but lacks detail and therefore should be regarded as more of an introduction to Attlee. The Attlee who emerges from this work is a very interesting character who is a most unlikely Labour Prime Minister given his background and his quite reserved personality. However, the work also shows that Attlee was undoubtedly a very effective leader whose government achieved a great deal because of the approach and consensus building of the Prime Minister. Nevertheless, it also shows that this great strength was also a flaw in certain circumstances and especially in the 1950s. All in all though this is a very good book about a great Prime Minister and although not very detailed is still undoubtedly a very good introduction to the life of this most unlikely leader.

Well researched and thoughtful. Balanced analysis. Very readable. One of the best books on the period. Highly recommended for students, academics, politicians or just a layman reader interested in Attlee in politics, the rise of Labour, the development of the Welfare State etc.