HAROLD WILSON | THE WINNER

TITLE - HAROLD WILSON | THE WINNER

WRITTEN BY - NICK THOMAS-SYMONDS

GENRE - POLITICS/BIOGRAPHY/BRITISH HISTORY

PUBLISHED BY - W&N

PUBLICATION DATE - AVAILABLE NOW 

I’ve always been fascinated by this period of Britain’s political history as it was a little before my time, even as a child of the ‘70s. At such a young age I had no concept of politics and the shenanigans going on in the country (but I knew Harold Wilson smoked a pipe). So, when I heard about Nick Thomas-Symonds’ book I saw an opportunity to fill the gaps in my knowledge. However, I should add that due to my being unfamiliar with the political history of the time, I am not in a position to comment on the author’s conclusions about Wilson’s policies etc. I am simply reviewing the book on its merits as a biography.

Symonds has had unprecedented access to Harold Wilson’s handwritten notes, letters and various other papers which have been hitherto unavailable, which have enabled him to perform a timely reevaluation of one of the most progressive Prime Ministers the United Kingdom has ever had, dealing with issues that will resonate today - membership of the EEC, women’s rights, British involvement in conflicts overseas etc.

An academic youngster with an exemplary record of scholastic achievement, with an unwavering childhood dream to go into politics and become Prime Minister, (a prescient photo shows the young Harold outside No. 10 Downing Street) Wilson leads an almost charmed life to get to the position he is best remembered for. He was, it seems, always the “winner” of the book’s title. Even the seemingly spontaneous quips and retorts in the Commons that he became famous for were the result of determined hard work and practice, having been accused of giving stuffy and boring speeches.

Symonds recounts Wilson’s political career in riveting detail, and whilst the political jargon can get complex at times, he has an accessible style that shouldn’t put off the casual reader without a grounding in politics. Much more fluid and easier to read than I expected, but not lightweight by any means, “The Winner” is an enjoyable and informative book, but not without its faults. I frequently got the impression that the author believes Wilson could do no wrong and that any failures or shortcomings in the Wilson government were the fault of other people. At times the book borders on hagiography. The reader is left in no doubt that NT-S is a big fan, even taking into account the fact he is a Labour MP, and I think it will be a matter of personal opinion whether this impresses or grates.

Overall, NT-S does a thorough job of reassessing Harold Wilson for a new generation and giving him his due credit for the enduring societal changes he brought about; he also humanises and rediscovers Wilson for those born too late to see him in action. This was truly a different time: today it generally follows that if you lose an election, you lose the leadership, but back then it was normal for the same person to remain leader even after a defeat. If nothing else, Symonds’ book proves that, with the current Labour Party now an inept shadow of the party Harold Wilson so successfully led, we will probably never see his like again.

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STALIN'S LIBRARY

TITLE - STALIN'S LIBRARY 

WRITTEN BY - GEOFFREY ROBERTS 

PUBLISHED BY - YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS, LONDON 

PUBLICATION DATE - 8TH FEBRUARY 2022

A voracious reader, Josef Stalin had his own library of some 25,000 books, for which he employed the services of a librarian. He developed his own classification system and ex-libris stamp, and was fond of annotating and marking the books he read. He was a great respecter of books, if not of the people who wrote them. Whilst Stalin despised his political opponents, he paid close attention to their writings. 

A surprising portrait of the infamous Russian leader emerges from the scholarly pages of “Stalin’s Library” by Geoffrey Roberts - that of an intellectual and deep thinking bookworm and autodidact who revered books, even berating his own children when they treated them poorly. Roberts discovers a tantalising (though not a complete) insight into the real Stalin by analysing the way he read his books and the marks he made in them. It is also an attempt to provide a verifiable biography of Stalin, debunking many “conspiracy theories” and incorrect yet widely believed facts about him. 

Stalin was, conversely, shy of allowing books to be written about himself, vetoing many biographies and pamphlets, and those that were published were vigorously marked up if he disagreed with them. However, Stalin was more enthusiastic about the creation of his collected writings, a popular publication running to thirteen volumes until they were halted by Khrushchev. There is a revealing chapter on these books, their legacy and the unpublished final volumes, and very interesting details of the specific genres of books that Stalin favourited and the historical attempts to study his library. The longest chapter in the book is devoted to an rich and illuminating study of Stalin’s “potemki”, the marks, annotations and sometimes angry crossings-out that he added to many of the books he read. 

Geoffrey Roberts has written a very readable and intelligent book; ostensibly pro-Stalin only in regard to establishing a factual biographical life of the man, and thoroughly researched. While there is much about Stalin’s library itself and its legacy and how his reading influenced him as a political leader, the book is also a history of Stalin’s rise to power and beyond. While this does create something of an identity crisis at times, this book is excellent throughout and is highly recommend to anyone searching for a slightly different take on Stalin’s life and times.

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