David Lloyd George: The Great Outsider [Hardcover]

This book has been a long time in the writing. However, reading it, I wonder why. Perhaps the least of its faults is that it has been inadequately proof-read. The number of typos are legion, in some cases several on every page. Sam Evans, for example, becomes Sam Ellis on a number of pages, Northwich Norwich, and so on, to the extent that these interfere with the flow of the narrative.

But this is a minor problem compared to the fact that Hattersley has clearly failed to do some basic research. His account of the 1894-6 Cymru Fydd conroversy, for example, collapses into nonsense when he describes Lloyd George's plans to secure the abolition of the South Wales Liberal Federation as follows:

'The Obstructive South Wales Liberal Federation would be superseded and engulfed by the Rhondda Liberal Association...'

This in all seriousness!! The Rhondda Liberal Association was a constituency association, which belonged to the South Wales Liberal Federation, not a similar, more nationalist body. How Hattersley has developed this idea is frankly beyond me, unless he hasn't thought to check any one of dozens of books on this subject. This speaks of sloppy writing, as well as sloppy thinking.

Equally, the identification of Mabon, MP for the Rhondda, as 'Anti-Nationalist' is to assume that only Lloyd George's version of nationalism was the correct one. Given that Lord Hattersley has been advised by Kenneth Morgan and John Graham Jones, one would expect better. Even if he had not been, there is the assumption that a writer would acquire a proper knowledge of his subject before putting pen to paper. The same may be said of his identification of the three candidates at the 1922 Newport by-election as a Labour man, a Coalition Conservative and an anti-Coalition Conservative. In fact, they were a Liberal, a Conservative, and a Labour man.

Hattersley is able to tell the story in a relatively concise manner, but with little understanding, especially of Lloyd George's roots. Given his former close association with Neil Kinnock, this is surprising. Hattersley is a sympathetic, although not idolatrous biographer, seeing Lloyd George as a worthy radical, but a man who put ambition above all things

The episodic nature of the book seems in part due to a heavy reliance on the works of other people. For example, a passage on pages 65-6 shows a heavy reliance on Bentley Gilbert's 'Architect of Change', page 97. Perhaps this is a reason for some of the odd interpretations which occasionally appear.

On the whole, this book is a pale shadow of the book which could have been written, consisting of sloppy research, and largely relying on information which has been in the public domain for decades. I would not direct readers to this largely derivative work, but suggest instead the works of John Grigg, Bentley B. Gilbert, Peter Rowland or Kenneth O. Morgan for anyone wishing to understand this remarkable politician. Even as a popular biography, this is a painful flop. The English translation of D. R. Daniel's memoir of Lloyd George which Prys Morgan produced for Hattersley, however, would be a valuable addition to the resources available to those interested in Lloyd George.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same". We see Lloyd George condemning the arms race and immoral wars, such as against the Boers - how would he have applied his razor-sharp scorn to the Iraq War? He campaigned for non-conformist teachers to be allowed to teach in Welsh schools , so presumably would have spoken against faith schools and for Welsh devolution, had he lived today. He foresaw how the embryonic labour party threatened the long-term survival of the liberal party and eventually advocated a "centrist" coalition with the Tories to effect constitutional change. The level of faction-fighting within the Liberal Party foreshadowed what may be about to happen again now. And then there were the issues of Irish independence and the power of the Lords to block legislation, eternal thorns in the flesh of Westminster.

Lloyd George got himself noticed by attacking people through breathtakingly rude yet witty insults, on a scale which would probably be quite unacceptable today. His "weathercock" attitude to many issues makes for confusing reading at times. He opposed votes for women on the practical grounds that this would give the Tories an unfair advantage until suffrage was extended to men without property. This illustrates the ultra-pragmatism which enabled him to negotiate with employers and unions to avert strikes, and bring peace to Ireland - yet always there was his tendency to give different parties different impressions - to the point of appearing to lie - so that "solutions" were too often short-lived.

We are told that LG "felt no loyalty to either institutions or individuals ...yet he remained true ... to a few ideas... for which he was prepared to sacrifice other political objectives": he was unyielding on national insurance for sickness and invalidity, based on contributions from employers and workmen. For this and his leadership in WW1, he deserves praise - although he seems to have withheld vital troops from a military leader he wanted to remove, but lacked the power to do so.

On a personal level, he sailed close to the wind, risking scandal through indiscreet affairs, even fathering illegitimate children. He sold honours for cash with astonishing blatancy, even joking about the "dirty money" which the Liberals held their noses and asked him to contribute.

Ffion Hague's recent biography of Lloyd George has already provided a detailed character study of the charismatic but selfish and manipulative "Welsh Wizard", but it tends to focus on his relationships with women, notably his long-suffering ("blind" because it was the easiest option?) wife and emotionally abused mistress Frances Stephenson. I looked to Roy Hattersley for a clearer analysis of the political aspects of his life.

It is a challenge to produce a book which is accessible but suitably "scholarly", without getting overly bogged down in detail. For the most part, the author manages this, with a good blend of analysis, telling quotations and fascinating anecdotes. Once Lloyd George achieves his ambition of cabinet office, first at the Board of Trade but then as Chancellor, the book gets into its stride and manages to be quite gripping, even over such a superficially dry but important topic as his battle to get the 1909 Finance Bill through the Lords - or did he want it to fail in order to force a crisis over the undemocratic power of the higher chamber?

I spotted a few errors - "wining" for "winning" etc, which gave me the confidence to think that has been a lack of editing. Also, some topics are introduced in a fragmented way, without sufficient initial explanation. So, I was often forced to break off reading and comb the index to piece together an understanding of, say, the aims and effects of various education acts (all tied up with the imposition of Anglican RE on nonconformist Wales) or the ins and outs of Irish dissidence, which then as now had the power to split and bring down Westminster parties. One of the worst omissions for me was the lack of explanation of the role of Joseph Chamberlain in breaking up the Liberal Party before LG attained office. I had to consult Wikipedia to find out about the formation of the Liberal Unionists (not mentioned in the index for this biography) who governed in coalition with the Tories. There are also some odd leaps in the text , such as the jump on p.367 from the need to produce shells in WW1 to the drive to reduce the consumption in alcohol.

Hattersley does not much like, but admires LG, a viewpoint which it is easy to share. I recommend this biography, although the 650 pages require a serious commitment of time and concentration - probably worth buying so you can reread to get the full benefit.....

I don't really like Lord (Roy) Hattersley. I've never met him and maybe I'm being irrational, but I don't really like Lord Hattersley. This book has not made me like him for, among other things, it exhibits his prejudices and it shows what may be his laziness.

I reckon that David Lloyd George disappointed Hattersley by not, eventually, going over to Labour. I also reckon that Hattersley doesn't approve of Lloyd George's sexual shenanigans. A certain po-faced, politically-correct, middle class, curtain-twitching faux disgust shows through Hattersley's writing. Jack Kennedy's close contemporaries knew full well that the president had always been obsessed with sex. Those contemporaries, in the main, disregarded Kennedy's peccadilloes for they realised that he was greater than his weaknesses. So did Lloyd George's close contemporaries for they realised that he, also, was greater than his weaknesses. Readers will have to make up their own minds about 'The Goat.'

Hattersley's - or somebody else's - laziness exhibits itself in the book by and through the numerous typographical and spelling errors. Somebody - Hattersley or somebody else - should have fixed these errors that are inexcusable in the spell-check age. Errors of fact are also worrying, for one never know that, if one spots one - Abraham Lincoln was not born at Louisville, but near Hodgenville, Kentucky - how many more there are. Not good for stars for an Amazon review.

But, but, but ... this biography, for all of its faults, brings to life, not only 'The Goat,' but also the low-born 'Welsh Wizard,' the Nonconformist preacher and campaigner, the advocate of the tythe-paying tenant farmers, the Protestant and protesting pro-Boer politician, the friend of the down-trodden poor who - alongside Winston Churchill - actually did something for the poor, the temperance-tending leader who ousted Herbert Henry 'Squiffy' Asquith from the premiership during Britain's darkest hours in the so-called 'Great War,' the Prime Minister who was more concerned for Britain's soldiers than either Lord Kitchener or General Haig, the post-war leader who attempted to build consensus at home and who could see the damage that the ill-judged Versailles Treaty would do in Europe, the fierce foe of Bolshevism, the 'liberal' who tired of Liberalism but didn't forsake Liberalism's best causes, one of the few giants among the many pygmies during the 1920s and 1930s who never led again but whose stature was recognised again in his late 70s when he was asked by Churchill in 1940 to join the War Cabinet or to be Britain's ambassador in Washington. Above all, Lloyd George was the Liberal Imperialist whose type is extinct today, as, sadly, is the British Empire.

Despite David Lloyd George's undoubted 'weaknesses,' there is no doubt that the man was superbly strong and of great stature. I should like very much to have met him. For telling me this - again - Lord Hattersley has my thanks and his book has five stars.

One final thing. A book cannot illustrate to its readers the sound of its subject. Fortunately, a few recordings of David Lloyd George's marvellously mellifluous and melodious and very Welsh voice can be heard again via Youtube. I recommend listening in and I also recommend this splendid printed work.