Review by Choice Review
Macmillan (1894-1986) had a long and distinguished public career: an officer at the front in WW I, diplomatic emissary in the Mediterranean area during WW II, member of Parliament for nearly 60 years, holder of various ministerial posts (among them Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer), and, finally leader of the Conservative party and Prime Minister from 1957 to 1963. Macmillan later wrote his memoirs, in six volumes (CH, Jan'67, Sept'68, Apr'70, Mar'72, Feb'73, Apr'74), without being entirely candid about aspects of his personal and political life. Biographies such as Nigel Fisher's Harold Macmillan (CH, Nov'82) described their subject's career but without access to the rich source materials placed at Horne's disposal for this authorized biography. Macmillan apparently allowed Horne to use his archives freely and spoke frequently with him over a period of seven years from 1979 until his death. Horne also conducted interviews with many of Macmillan's relatives, colleagues, and acquaintances. After a decade of work, he has a remarkable empathy for his subject--at times perhaps too much so--despite occasional criticisms. That stated, this biography is a splendid accomplishment. It is eminently readable, with fascinating anecdotes and compelling drama. The insight into Macmillan's private affairs clarifies his public image, and knowledge of the man illuminates his era. In addition, the work provides useful information on aspects of the two world wars, the development of the British Commonwealth and the Common Market, and Anglo-American and East-West relations during the Cold War, among other topics. There are good illustrations, a short bibliography, full endnotes, and an excellent index in each volume. Highly recommended for scholars and serious students of 20th-century Britain. M. Swartz University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
This first volume of Horne's definitive biography of one of Britain's greatest statesmen covers the first six decades of Macmillan's life. Despite the fact that Macmillan's tenure as prime minister will not be covered until the second volume, Horne nonetheless chronicles here a life brimful of increasingly impressive challenges met and overcome. Born (like Churchill) of an American mother but also into a famed publishing family, Macmillan faced death several times during World War I, overcame innate shyness to stand successfully for Parliament, and drowned his tragic personal circum- stances (namely, his adored wife's lifelong and open affair) in hard work-- which ultimately led him to become Churchill's and Eisenhower's liaison during World War II, Churchill's foreign secretary, and Anthony Eden's treasury director, before attaining the pinnacle of his career as prime minister. Horne does a splendid job in interweaving the alternate triumphs and tragedies of the man. Index and bibliography appended. AW.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Although known for his unflappability, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was actually highly strung from childhood. He was a solitary adolescent, molded by his forbidding American mother from Indiana and his publisher father, descendant of Scottish crofters. As Horne's magisterial, engrossing biography reveals, Macmillan suffered a severe nervous breakdown in 1931; it took years for this emotional romantic to remake himself into a stern pragmatist. This first volume of an authorized yet highly candid portrait by the author of A Savage War of Peace climaxes with details of Macmillan's role in the 1956 Suez Canal crisis in which he secretly advanced a plan to involve Israel in a joint attack on Egypt. Crammed with revelations, Horne's robust profile divulges that Macmillan's wife Dorothy had a romantic affair that nearly wrecked their marriage and lasted until her death. Horne portrays Macmillan as Churchill's right-hand man during the darkest days of WW II, hopping from meetings with Ike and de Gaulle to Finland and Casablanca. He rebuts charges that Macmillan conspired to repatriate and thus send to their doom tens of thousands of Cossacks, White Russians and Yugoslavs after the war. Photos. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
British Prime Minister from 1957 to 1963, Macmillan was a member of the Macmillan publishing family and had an American mother. The first volume of this absorbing authorized biography benefits from personal interviews and from access to diaries and other private papers. Some new light is shed on political events, but far more, sadly, on his deeply troubled family life. Macmillan was a highly private man who in the end eludes even this privileged biographer; one feels that Horne (also the author of Harold Macmillan: A Life in Pictures, St. Martin's, 1984) has no idea why Macmillan acted as he did in the Suez crisis, for example. But this is essential for modern British history collections.-- Nancy C. Cridland, Indiana Univ. Libs., Bloomington (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
From British historian Horne (Napoleon, Master of Europe 1805-1807; A Savage War of Peace; etc.), the first volume of a multivolume, definitive biography of the British statesman. Like Churchill, Macmillan was born of an American mother--although, unlike the promiscuous Jennie Churchill, Nellie MacMillan played a dominant and highly influential role in her son's career. And unlike Churchill, Macmillan did not have an ancestry steeped in English history. Instead, he was born of the prominent publishing finn that bears his surname to this day. Macmillan's first 40 years were laden with ironies that Home blends into a tale of riveting interest. Constitutionally shy, the future PM was forced to challenge his shyness by his mother's persistent goading and her manipulation of him into important contacts as if he were a piece on her personal chessboard. A peaceful man of deep intellect, Macmillan found himself near death on three different occasions on the battlefields of WW I. An awkward speaker, he also found himself, at age 30, propelled into a seat in Parliament. An adoring husband, his dual attentions of his political and publishing careers led his wife to carry on, openly, a lifelong affair with Robert Boothby. Finally, often considered second to Churchill as Britain's greatest statesman, it took Macmillan fully 14 years to reach a position of national leadership, and until his 63rd year to attain the prime ministry. In between, he served as liaison between Churchill and Eisenhower, as treasury director, and as foreign secretary. Intensely researched, detailed, and readable: an excellent biography. Volume II will cover Macmillan's prime ministry. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
