- Hardcover: 576 pages
- Publisher: Victor Gollancz; Revised edition (31 Mar 1994)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0575051973
- ISBN-13: 978-0575051973
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 16.5 x 5.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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- #34 in Books > Biography > Political > Britain > Labour & Socialism
- #79 in Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Government & Politics > Political Science & Ideology > Socialism
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Product Description
Product Description
In this biography of Michael Foot, a colleague and friend of many years' standing traces the career of a man who first stood as a Labour candidate at the age of 22. Recommended to Lord Beaverbrook by Aneurin Bevan, he was wartime editor of the "Evening Standard" and author of a series of campaigning books. With the support of his wife, Jill Craigie, Foot became the conscience of the Left through the years of the Aldermaston marches and the Vietnam War. Following spells as Secretary for Employment under Wilson, and Leader of the House of Commons under Callaghan, he was elected Labour Party leader in 1980 and brought his polemical skills to bear on Mrs Thatcher. But he was met with unprecedented vilification from his own side as well as the media, and it was an unhappy period which ended with Labour's catastrophic defeat in the 1983 General Election. Meanwhile, as a devotee of literature Foot produced scholarly books about Swift and Byron, as well as a massive biography of his hero, Bevan. Seeking to do full justice to Foot's achievements and to the complexities of his character, Mervyn Jones traces his personal and political development, and his relationships with personalities such as Barbara Castle, Tony Benn, Enoch Powell and Neil Kinnock. Jones's other books include over 20 novels. He was on the staff of "Tribune" under Michael Foot's editorship, and later assistant editor of "New Statesman".
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Lipson Terrace was eighty years ago, and still is, one of the best addresses in Plymouth. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Lipson Terrace was eighty years ago, and still is, one of the best addresses in Plymouth. Read the first page
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Format:Hardcover
Michael Foot is now sadly remembered as the most unsuccessful Labour in the post-war era, leading the party to the calamitous 1983 General Election defeat. But as this biography shows, Foot was a sucessful politician in the 1974-1979 government, as well as a pre-eminent journalist, author of many books, bibliophile and debater (in his schooldays winning a trip to the USA).
Foot's journey through life is practically that of the Labour party in the UK, for Foot was born into a family of Liberals and started there himself politically, but shifted to the Labour party, as many post-WWI Liberals did. We learn a great deal about Foot's family, especially his practically biblio-manicial father Issac who was a towering influence. Foot as a young man was not blessed socially (a trait worsened by asthma and psoriasis) but was a scholar of great ability and a speaker of confidence. But from his large family Foot gained an empathy with women and married Jill Craigie.
Following his time at Oxford, Foot worked as a journalist, for many years under the employ of Beaverbrook, who then had a reputation equivalent to Rupert Murdoch. Mervyn Jones shows how well Foot thought of Beaverbrook, though he does not really show what this would have been thought of in the wider Labour party. Foot then became an MP, initially for Plymouth (his home town), but following defeat in the 1955 election and Aneurin Bevan's death, was selected for Bevan's old seat in Wales where the Labour votes could have been weighed rather than counted!
Foot's time as an MP could be split into four (such was his longevity): firstly his time as a "maverick" backbencher (when such positions were far more respected) until 1970; on the front benches and government (1970-1979), during which he was Employment Secretary and Leader of the House (working closely with Callaghan in his minority administration); Labour party leader (1980-1983); then a venerable backbencher (1983-1992). Each period is well represented - Foot's backbench period was important because of his skill in defeating the Lord reforms, for example.
Foot's period as leader is tackled sympathetically - perhaps too much so, for Jones does not really give a sense of the crisis which Labour found itself in in 1983. His election as leader is in fact hailed as helping to keep the Labour party together, when in fact it was taken as proof of a shift to the left (Callaghan would not have countanced unilateral disarmament or withdrawl from the EEC). Foot's inability to adapt to modern (TV-based) electioneering is similarly sympathised with, rather than condemned for letting the Conservatives win the arguments by default. And this is my main criticism of this biography - Jones seems rather too close to Foot and hesitates to criticise his failures where appropriate, for Foot, regardless of his effectiveness as a Cabinet Minister, was not suited as a party leader. His handling of Tony Benn for example was far too lenient.
Nonetheless, this is an excellent, highly informative, at times moving (Foot's wider family did not have their troubles to seek) book. Anyone interested in UK politics, in the Labour movement or indeed in post-war journalism would enjoy it greatly.
Foot's journey through life is practically that of the Labour party in the UK, for Foot was born into a family of Liberals and started there himself politically, but shifted to the Labour party, as many post-WWI Liberals did. We learn a great deal about Foot's family, especially his practically biblio-manicial father Issac who was a towering influence. Foot as a young man was not blessed socially (a trait worsened by asthma and psoriasis) but was a scholar of great ability and a speaker of confidence. But from his large family Foot gained an empathy with women and married Jill Craigie.
Following his time at Oxford, Foot worked as a journalist, for many years under the employ of Beaverbrook, who then had a reputation equivalent to Rupert Murdoch. Mervyn Jones shows how well Foot thought of Beaverbrook, though he does not really show what this would have been thought of in the wider Labour party. Foot then became an MP, initially for Plymouth (his home town), but following defeat in the 1955 election and Aneurin Bevan's death, was selected for Bevan's old seat in Wales where the Labour votes could have been weighed rather than counted!
Foot's time as an MP could be split into four (such was his longevity): firstly his time as a "maverick" backbencher (when such positions were far more respected) until 1970; on the front benches and government (1970-1979), during which he was Employment Secretary and Leader of the House (working closely with Callaghan in his minority administration); Labour party leader (1980-1983); then a venerable backbencher (1983-1992). Each period is well represented - Foot's backbench period was important because of his skill in defeating the Lord reforms, for example.
Foot's period as leader is tackled sympathetically - perhaps too much so, for Jones does not really give a sense of the crisis which Labour found itself in in 1983. His election as leader is in fact hailed as helping to keep the Labour party together, when in fact it was taken as proof of a shift to the left (Callaghan would not have countanced unilateral disarmament or withdrawl from the EEC). Foot's inability to adapt to modern (TV-based) electioneering is similarly sympathised with, rather than condemned for letting the Conservatives win the arguments by default. And this is my main criticism of this biography - Jones seems rather too close to Foot and hesitates to criticise his failures where appropriate, for Foot, regardless of his effectiveness as a Cabinet Minister, was not suited as a party leader. His handling of Tony Benn for example was far too lenient.
Nonetheless, this is an excellent, highly informative, at times moving (Foot's wider family did not have their troubles to seek) book. Anyone interested in UK politics, in the Labour movement or indeed in post-war journalism would enjoy it greatly.
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