The Rebel Who Lost His Cause: The Tragedy of John Beckett MP [Hardcover]

The Rebel Who Lost His Cause: The Tragedy of John Beckett, MP is a detailed and honest biography of the British Left Wing Labour MP who became the third ranking Fascist in Britain at the time of World War II. His career was one that was constantly accompanied by controversy and drama. His natural intelligence and wit, allied to his strong stands on contentious issues, marked Beckett for checkered Parliamentary life, but it was his association with Oswald Mosley that set many of his friends against him and brought an unsatisfactory end to a dramatic and traumatic public life. Biographer Francis Beckett provides an accurate, insightful, memorable, highly recommended account of a gifted, controversial man in a time marked by the drama of warring political philosophies, armies, and personalities.

John Beckett spent the late 1910s and early 1920s with leaders in the Labour movement showing a talent for propaganda, for a time he was even shared a house with Clement Attlee.In 1924 John Beckett took up post as MP for for Gateshead as a member of the (Independent) Labour Party (ILP). At the time he was the youngest MP in the House of Commons. But, like Oswald Mosley, a fellow MP of the time, he attained infamy by deserting his party to various fascist parties (as well as, during his time as an MP stealing the ceremonial mace). For a time before their egos clashed they were both leading lights in the British Union of Fascis and were subsequently to be fellow inmates detained under government's emergency 18B powers. The Rebel Who Lost his Cause tells the story of this evolution and Beckett's own subsequent retirement from politics.

It is not however an ordinary biography. The author is himself a political journalist ( I have recently read his co-authored book on the Blair premiership) and a former union and labour party worker so is equipped and knowledgeable on the subject matter. More interestingly however, Francis Beckett is John Beckett's son - sometimes such a close familial relation causes either overt apology or plain hagiography, in most respects this book avoids this.

The closing words of the book, in which Beckett quotes from the historian Richard Griffiths, are:

"Most people, when they wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and say to themselves `I am all right; my attitudes and actions are justified.' And then some of those people go out and do, or get involved in such dreadful things. My aim, throughout, has been to try and work out such people's reasons for action, or the justifications they make to themselves. Only thereby can we learn how to deal with such people and attitudes in the future" (216).

What Beckett does well is provide a narrative of his father's life and a glimpse into his undoubted oratory and organisational skills, shown most notably in his pre fascist days first as a well respected ILP speaker and as chief whip for the ILP party in parliament. However, the shift from left wing firebrand to fascist leader is a monumental one and one that is never really explained. However, where I do have problems is the tendency to minimise John Beckett's continued adherence to far right politics until eventually retiring and fading into relative obscurity. If Francis Beckett is to be believed John Beckett soon became disenchanted with fascist politics, particularly after his departure from the BUF, but continued to contribute and take a leading in ever a number of far right groups. However, at a number of points it is suggested that John Beckett's heart really was not in the fascist business anymore but because of the way was ostracised by his former ILP allies he had nothing to go back to and too old to start afresh. Simply put, I don't buy it. A man as talented in manipulating the media would know the potency of a heartfelt mea culpa and the slow journey to redemption this could have brought. However, this was not John Beckett's path in the intermediate term.

Overall however The Rebel Who Lost His Cause is an interesting and poignant book offering both a perspective on the history of British fascism but also of a son's struggle to come to terms with his father's mistakes.

Most readers of "The Rebel Who Lost His Cause" will probably conclude that John Beckett led a fascinating life during extraordinary times. Nevertheless, the author lets the story drag throughout much of the work, making a 215-page book feel much longer. The author depends too heavily on Beckett's own writings. Given that the author is the son of the book's subject, I would have liked to see a greater number of sources and more perspectives in this work. An author would have to TRY to make Beckett's life seem dull, but somehow, the author succeeded at doing just that.