In his introduction to Eminent Edwardians Dr Piers Brendan tells us his work 'follows Strachey's pattern and attempts to unlock an age by means of a few key figures' whose "eminence was global".' He thus invites comparison with Lytton Strachey, yet still manages to be disarmingly modest about his achievement, and himself provides the criteria by which to judge his work.

How then does he compare with Lytton Strachey in the form both have used? The great difference between Eminent Victorians and Eminent Edwardians lies in the intrinsic quality of their chosen subjects. After Strachey's de-bunking, Manning, Arnold, Florence Nightingale, Gordon still have elements of greatness, but it is hard to see why these Eminent Edwardians (Northcliffe, Mrs Pankhurst, Arthur Balfour, and Baden Powell) were put upon the pedestals from which Dr Brendan endeavours to dislodge them. How could such people have had global influence? One answer may be that the times were right. Northcliffe sought to wield the power of the Press, and the new Education acts provided him with a huge readership. At least he did get ordinary people to read. To parody Tennyson "Twas better to have read the Mail than never to have read at all'; and