Harold Macmillan was a figure of paradox. Outwardly, it was Edwardian elegance and civilised urbanity. Inwardly, it was emotional damage from his wife's open adultery and his progressive perplexity at the onward march of time. The First World War showed the courageous soldier. From then on, it was politics, rather than the family business of publishing, which was to be his future. Nevertheless, although he supported Churchill in the 1930s he was deemed boring - and certainly not ministerial material. All changed with the Second World War. Appointed Minister in Residence in North Africa, Macmillan's career flowered. After the War he became indispensable to Conservative Cabinets and as Churchill's Minister of Housing in the early 1950s he achieved the target, against all expectations, of 300,000 houses annually. Thereafter, he was Eden's Foreign Secretary and Chancellor but by then Macmillan had become openly ambitious. Over the Suez affair in 1956 he played a difficult - and somewhat devious - hand. Eden's resignation left him as the clear choice of his Cabinet colleagues to become Prime Minister. From 1957 to 1962, Macmillan was a good - some would say a great - Prime Minister. By 1962, however, his government was looking tired. The Profumo affair in 1963 was particularly damaging, and in the autumn of 1963 his health forced him to retire. Charles Williams addresses - among many other hitherto unanswered questions - whether it was Harold Macmillan's personal life that prevented him from achieving true greatness or whether he became simply out of date.
Harold Macmillan
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Review
'Charles Williams's thoughtful and well-informed new life... comes as a welcome treat... he captures better than any other writer the tensions between the different facets of Macmillan's personality' (SUNDAY TIMES )
'Charles Williams' biography is an antidote to nostalgia... a lean compelling narrative with a more detached and critical point of view.' (LITERARY REVIEW )
'a bright, swift-moving biography, without party-political rancour ' (DAILY EXPRESS )
'[Williams] has produced a biography that... is a model of its kind - diligently researched, gracefully written and never short of absorbing.' (Anthony Howard DAILY TELEGRAPH )
'a keen eye for personality and drama... this fluid and engaging new biography... give[s] readers a ringside view of the politican in the making.' (Frank Trentmann SUNDAY EXPRESS )
'a fine achievement, fair in tone and spare in style. This thoroughly absorbing book chronicles the tragic Odyssey of an almost great man.' (Kenneth Morgan THE INDEPENDENT )
'It is not only well researched and beautifully crafted but also enlivened by the insights of an experienced politician.' (Lord Radice HOUSE MAGAZINE )
'This new biography... brings the Macmillan era back to life in vivid style. It is a first-class biography... most fascinating of all is the way he describes in great detail, pathos and sympathy the extraordinary emotional tragedy that haunted much of Macmillan's political career' (Geoffrey Goodman TRIBUNE )
'It is the great contribution of this new biography by a Labour peer to show the role domestic tragedy played in Macmillan's political achievement.' (CHURCH OF ENGLAND NEWSPAPER )
'In this impressive new biography Charles Williams takes the lid off the figure of Macmillan... This illuminating biography answers many hitherto unanswered questions.' (CATHOLIC HERALD )
'Charles Williams' biography is an antidote to nostalgia... a lean compelling narrative with a more detached and critical point of view.' (LITERARY REVIEW )
'a bright, swift-moving biography, without party-political rancour ' (DAILY EXPRESS )
'[Williams] has produced a biography that... is a model of its kind - diligently researched, gracefully written and never short of absorbing.' (Anthony Howard DAILY TELEGRAPH )
'a keen eye for personality and drama... this fluid and engaging new biography... give[s] readers a ringside view of the politican in the making.' (Frank Trentmann SUNDAY EXPRESS )
'a fine achievement, fair in tone and spare in style. This thoroughly absorbing book chronicles the tragic Odyssey of an almost great man.' (Kenneth Morgan THE INDEPENDENT )
'It is not only well researched and beautifully crafted but also enlivened by the insights of an experienced politician.' (Lord Radice HOUSE MAGAZINE )
'This new biography... brings the Macmillan era back to life in vivid style. It is a first-class biography... most fascinating of all is the way he describes in great detail, pathos and sympathy the extraordinary emotional tragedy that haunted much of Macmillan's political career' (Geoffrey Goodman TRIBUNE )
'It is the great contribution of this new biography by a Labour peer to show the role domestic tragedy played in Macmillan's political achievement.' (CHURCH OF ENGLAND NEWSPAPER )
'In this impressive new biography Charles Williams takes the lid off the figure of Macmillan... This illuminating biography answers many hitherto unanswered questions.' (CATHOLIC HERALD )
Book Description
A masterly biography of a great Conservative Prime Minister (and publisher) - Harold Macmillan (1894-1986).
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By HBH
Format:Hardcover
Harold Macmillan by Charles Williams is a very good book dealing with a good but not great Prime Minister. It is well-written, interesting and opinionated but also tells the fascinating story of a very complicated character who: gave the appearance of unflapibility while being a nervous hypocondriac, who was regarded in the 1930s as a boring eccentric but became Prime Minister and won an election at least in part due to his public persona, who affected ancient mannerisms but was the first Prime Minister of the 1960s and who affected at times a pose of being unambitious but was instead extremely determined. All in all a very good book about a complicated character who rose to become a good and for a time potetially great Prime Minister and whose resignation in 1963 marked in many ways the end of an era.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
In terms of readability this book is a true example of the style in which to write any good biography. It is easy to read, well presented but crucially still manages to get facts across in a usable way.
The content however is were I take issue. I feel he is too harsh with his criticisms of Macmillan particularly dealing with many of his personality 'defects'. The overall tone, particularly towards the end of the book, bordered on being unpleasant. For example, the overall feel I got when reading the (too) concise outline of Macmillan's time as Earl of Stockton was that he was an old man who's time had gone. To be frank, William's appears to, as is customary for post-1979 politicians to do, look down on what Macmillan stood for, one-nation Toryism and consensus politics. I sincerely disagree with many of the conclusions that Williams reaches and I don't feel that he is completely impartial when dealing with Macmillan.
This book is by no means not worth reading, there are anecdotes and insight that are missing from more comprehensive works (even from Alistair Horne's rather comprehensive authorised biography). I don't think Williams has done anywhere near as good a job as Horne did on getting to know the subject, then again, I don't think many people could.
To be honest I am very disappointed with this and am looking forward to D.R. Thorpe's biography. Supermac: The Life of Harold Macmillan
The content however is were I take issue. I feel he is too harsh with his criticisms of Macmillan particularly dealing with many of his personality 'defects'. The overall tone, particularly towards the end of the book, bordered on being unpleasant. For example, the overall feel I got when reading the (too) concise outline of Macmillan's time as Earl of Stockton was that he was an old man who's time had gone. To be frank, William's appears to, as is customary for post-1979 politicians to do, look down on what Macmillan stood for, one-nation Toryism and consensus politics. I sincerely disagree with many of the conclusions that Williams reaches and I don't feel that he is completely impartial when dealing with Macmillan.
This book is by no means not worth reading, there are anecdotes and insight that are missing from more comprehensive works (even from Alistair Horne's rather comprehensive authorised biography). I don't think Williams has done anywhere near as good a job as Horne did on getting to know the subject, then again, I don't think many people could.
To be honest I am very disappointed with this and am looking forward to D.R. Thorpe's biography. Supermac: The Life of Harold Macmillan
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By Hellene
Format:Hardcover
One of the best political biographies I have read.
Lucidly written with an abundance of shrewed,penetrating judgments on
people involved and occuring private and political situations.
Simply put,a treat to read, from cover to cover.
Lucidly written with an abundance of shrewed,penetrating judgments on
people involved and occuring private and political situations.
Simply put,a treat to read, from cover to cover.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Terrible
I would not recommend this book. the author set out to do a hatchet job on his subject. most unfair and rather pompously written
Published 1 month ago by N G MCCRUM
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great read
Must be one of the best books on a politician of that time,cannot say more than than a must read for students of this period.
Published 4 months ago by t gates
3.0 out of 5 stars
Harold Macmillan
The detail is fascinating but I suspect the story is somewhat 'spun'. I was unsurpised to discover that the author was a Labour supporter as I seemed to detect a certain zeal to... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Seaweed
4.0 out of 5 stars
MacMillan
This book was an excellent read however his early days were very informative but some parts when he was Prime Minister I found very heavy going. All in all was well worth the read
Published on 18 Sep 2010 by chicken
3.0 out of 5 stars
Harold Macmillan, Anglocatholic of Horsted Keynes
The soldier who mounted guard outside the Palace came back years later to advise the Queen as Prime Minister. Read more
Published on 5 Jun 2010 by Rev. Dr. J. F. Twisleton
2.0 out of 5 stars
A mixed bag
This biography has its strong points, but I'm not sure they make up for the weaknesses. It is good on Macmillan's family life and the key personal relationships, such as with... Read more
Published on 21 Oct 2009 by F. Quinn
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