John McTernan
Downing Street 101
The Prime Ministers: Reflections on Leadership from Wilson to May
By Steve Richards
Atlantic Books 456pp £20
Steve Richards’s new book is an engaging survey of modern prime ministers. These leaders – from Harold Wilson to Theresa May, whose defenestration is alluded to in skilful late additions – qualify as modern in two regards. First, they are figures of the television age (the more recent ones are also victims of the social media era). Second, they are all individuals whom Richards ‘knew directly or observed closely’. As a distinguished and influential political journalist and commentator, he has written about, interviewed and spent time with most of them.
At a time when prime ministers seem to be coming along far more frequently than before (four since 2009, compared to only one, Tony Blair, in the decade before), this is a useful work. But as the subtitle indicates, The Prime Ministers is a book with higher ambitions than mere reportage. Throughout, Richards pulls out what he takes as the lessons for leadership from the actions and instincts, triumphs and disasters of the individuals whose careers he recounts.
The book opens with a chapter on Harold Wilson that sets the tone for the rest of the book. This is a relaxed account – there are few footnotes to distract from the narrative and Richards is generous in his observations. His opening remark is typical of the whole: ‘Harold
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
London's East End was long synonymous with poverty and sweatshops, while its West End was associated with glamour and high society. But when it came to the fashion industry, were the differences really so profound?
Sharman Kadish - Winkle-pickers & Bum Freezers
Sharman Kadish: Winkle-pickers & Bum Freezers - Fashion City: How Jewish Londoners Shaped Global Style; Fashion City: ...
literaryreview.co.uk
In 1982, Donald Rumsfeld presented Saddam Hussein with a pair of golden spurs. Two decades later he was dropping bunker-busting bombs on his palaces.
Where did the US-Iraqi relationship go wrong?
Rory Mccarthy - The Case of the Vanishing Missiles
Rory Mccarthy: The Case of the Vanishing Missiles - The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the United States and the ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Barbara Comyns was a dog breeder, a house painter, a piano restorer, a landlady... And a novelist.
@nclarke14 on the lengths 20th-century women writers had to go to make ends meet:
Norma Clarke - Her Family & Other Animals
Norma Clarke: Her Family & Other Animals - Barbara Comyns: A Savage Innocence by Avril Horner
literaryreview.co.uk