The King Of Sunlight: How William Lever Cleaned Up The World: Amazon.co.uk: Adam Macqueen: Books

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Adam Macqueen Page

Product Description

Waterstones Quarterly, Issue 12, 2004

Adam Macqueen has accomplished an affectionate portrait that brings this extraordinary character fully to life in joyously funny detail. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description

The life story of one of Britain's most successful businessmen and social reformers.

See all Product Description

Inside This Book (Learn More)

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

biography(1)

history(1)

industrial history(1)

urban history(1)

Agree with these tags?

See all 8 tags...

Customer Reviews

9 Reviews

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Lightweight Biography., 11 Mar 2009

By

Clare Topping (Northamptonshire, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The King Of Sunlight: How William Lever Cleaned Up The World (Paperback)

The King of Sunlight: How William Lever Cleaned Up the World

This is by no means an academic biography, and is an easy, somewhat lightweight read. Whether you enjoy it or not depends on what you want to get out of it.

The author is obviously fond of his subject, but was unable to make me feel strongly about him. It is a potentially interesting subject, but I was left with no strong desire to learn more about Port Sunlight or William Lever. I found this book a little too insubstantial and shallow for my liking, which was a bitter disappointment as I had really wanted to like it, having heard it recommended on Radio 4.

It reads more like a novel than a "serious biography". The writing style is very relaxed, and informal, more like a conversation than a work of non-fiction, but still does not really leave you very enlightened about the man behind Port Sunlight.

If you are just after something different to read about a different subject, then this is possibly the book for you. If you want something to get your teeth into that will leave you wanting to learn more about the history of Port Sunlight or the motivations of the man behind it, or even about the end of the Victorian era, then I suggest you carry on searching.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse | Permalink

Comment Comment

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An highly entertaining biography, 28 Jun 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: King of Sunlight, The (Hardcover)

As a great-granddaughter of Mary Lever Tillotson, sister to William Hesketh Lever, aka "The King of Sunlight", I was delighted to be given this book as a "special birthday" present earlier this month. Before opening the cover, I had no idea how highly entertaining and fascinating it would be. Leaving aside the family connection, Adam Macqueen's descriptions of a clever, down-to-earth and visionary entrepreneur had me in fits of laughter, although in contrast, a chapter relating what is thought to have happened to William's younger brother, James, was sensitively handled and in many ways a contrast to much of the rest of the book. Some of William Lever's late 19th and early 20th Century ideas of the "duties" of an employer would be regarded as nothing less than expected in the 21st Century, and this book gives a witty and perceptive insight into his life and times. In my childhood, I felt that over the years, my family had been blessed with somewhat more than its fair share of what some might label "eccentrics". Thanks to Adam Macqueen's book, I feel others now have an insight into one of these, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys being entertained whilst reading a biography - and challenge anyone who thinks biographies are boring old tomes to say this of "The King of Sunlight" once they have read it. I found it a hard book to put down.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse | Permalink

Comment Comment

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars After sharp showers, the sun shines brightest, 16 Nov 2008

By

Ian David Curry "Legal Eagle" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The King Of Sunlight: How William Lever Cleaned Up The World (Paperback)

The premise of this book is the story of a soap company that would eventually become Unilever and its founder and directing mind, William Lever. It doesn't sound promising, but, like many obscure corners of history that have been illuminated by fascinating, lucid and readable biographies and histories, this is the window to a wide and startling vista.

I came to read the book after hearing excerpts of it on BBC Radio 4's `A Good Read'. It sounded interesting in the round, but what really made me pay attention was the detail on Rivington. Rivington is a village in the moorland above Chorley and Bolton. It has medieval tithe barns, a quaint village centre, strange follies and the most amazing terraced gardens, ornamental lake and Roman ruins.

As a child I was taken there for Sunday walks, climbing the stone steps to a strange grotto that, in my mind, was permanently winter. The waterfall would be petrified, frozen solid in mid-tumble, and the landscape glistening as a pallid sunlight reflected from a thick and universal spread of frost.

In short it seemed a magical and strange place. So I was much obliged to the author of this book for providing some illumination as to how Japanese gardens and intricate terraces had been transplanted to this windswept and remote corner of Lancashire.

And once I had started reading the book it was clear that not only would my interest in a local beauty spot be satiatied, but that this was a wide-ranging and interesting book which, although having William Lever and his soap business as the central focus of attention, also covered the British Empire, the Liberal Party, old age pensions, garden cities and much more.

William Lever is presented sympathetically - it is obvious that Mr MacQueen is struck by the common affliction of biographers in his growing affection for his subject. But this is backed by the legacy of the man, which, whilst not completely apart from the times, was markedly different to the Victorian factory owners in this dark corner of Britain.

Mr MacQueen makes it clear that this book should not be read as a comprehensive biography of the man. William Lever's life is detailed, but is also used as a launch pad to some fascinating discourses on everything from the brutal history of Belgian Congo to the more obscure Parliamentary rules.

This book was a joy to read, and should whet the appetite to at least visit Port Sunlight, Rivington and the Isle of Harris and Lewis. So far I've got two out of the three, and the very brief but alluring introduction of the Western Isles has meant that I will try and head to the furthest reaches of Scotland sometime soon.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse | Permalink

Comment Comment

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 9 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

Would you like to see more reviews about this item?

› Go to Amazon U.S. to see the review 5.0 out of 5 stars

Was this review helpful? Let us know

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Top Marks
I enjoyed reading this informative book about William Lever's life and business empire. I also bought several copies for friends and family - all of whom commented on how good a... Read more

Published 6 months ago by Mr_MeAgain .