Product Description

As would be expected many of the people included come from the world of politics - Harold Macmillan, Stanley Baldwin and Nye Bevan to name just three - however Brief Lives concerns itself with far more than just the machinations of government. Such colourful literary figures as Noel Coward, Evelyn Waugh and John Betjeman put in an appearance, as do the newspaper magnates Lord Beaverbrook and Rupert Murdoch. Further a field, Bill's charity work led to a close relationship with Diana, Princess of Wales, and later Victoria Beckham. Finally, and perhaps the most moving of the pieces, is the portrait of his friendship with Sir Denis Thatcher, who died in 2003. Like his previous books, Dear Bill and At War With Waugh, Brief Lives is an affectionate, perceptive and anecdotal book, bursting with life, humour and wit.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #449652 in Books
• Published on: 2004-07-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Review
Here's W.F. Deedes, former cabinet minister, newspaper editor and inveterate journalist with a sparkling collection of portraits of the famous. Deedes not only knew many of his subjects personally but knew some of them over long chunks of time and is honest enough to document his own changing feelings and re-assessments. Each portrait asks questions, offers a fresh perspective. Did Anthony Eden deserve to be viewed as a failure because of Suez? Was Stanley Baldwin judged too harshly, especially over the Abdication? And wouldn't Oswald Mosely have made a great Prime Minister? Deedes lunches with Mosley, suggesting that his brilliant talents were mainly defeated by 'arrogance' and 'outstandingly bad judgement'. Friends with many of the heroes of our time, Deedes discusses wartime successes and failures with Montgomery. He discovers that Sir Edmund Hilary was genuinely astonished that his feat of climbing Everest would be of any interest, except to mountaineering magazines, and reveals that Roger Bannister (the first man to run a mile under four minutes) put his success down to the length of his legs (35 inches) and the ability to absorb nearly five litres of oxygen a minute (fifty per cent above normal). Deedes socialises with the notorious, taking dinner with the fabulously extravagant Imelda Marcos. He peers behind the popular labels of such diverse characters as Princess Diana and Mary Whitehouse. When you think there can't possibly be more to say about Diana, Deedes has new insights. Accompanying the Princess to Angola for her landmine campaign, he finds her an easy travel companion, fond of small jokes, and helps her to avert a serious ministerial clash. Mary Whitehouse he describes as 'one of those souls who feel driven by unseen forces to strenously contest powerful social trends of their time'. He admired her sense of humour and her pluck. The book includes penetrating observations on Ramsay Macdonald, Helen Suzman, Dame Lilo Milchsack, Noel Coward, Rab Butler, Ian Smith, Malcolm Muggeridge and of course, his Private Eye pen-pal, Dennis Thatcher. An entertaining, easy to dip into collection of some of the most stimulating characters of the twentieth century. (Kirkus UK)

About the Author
W. F. Deedes is the only person ever to have been both a Cabinet Minister and a national newspaper editor. He was a minister in Harold Macmillan's administration and later became Editor of the Daily Telegraph. He appears on television and radio frequently and has recently run high profile anti-landmine campaigns. He is ninety years old and is the author of Dear Bill, his Fleet Street memoirs published by Pan Books.

Customer Reviews

Succinct and informatives lives of figures of the C20
"Fascinating and eclectic selection of biographical sketches" reads the first line of the back cover and my plagiarism is simply an honour to the fact that there is no other way of succinctly summarising this book.

Bill Deedes, now in his nineties sets outs beautifully succinct and enthralling biographical essays of 18 figures of the twentieth century each of which he has met or known during his career. Spanning generations from Ramsey McDonald to Diana, Princess of Wales and characters from Mary Whitehouse to Oswald Moseley, Deedes presents an array of characters from politics, journalism, the sports and the media in approximately 15 or so pages each. Deedes highlights not only their lives, careers and contributions to history but also sets them fairly in the light of twenty-twenty hindsight. A good example is the opening chapter on Baldwin and why he was unfairly represented as the prime minister who did not re-arm Britain in the early years of German aggression; or Ramsey MacDonald as the first Labour Prime Minister who sold himself out to a Conservative coalition.

By far for me the life that stands out is that of Ian Smith, former Prime Minister of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). Deedes clearly sets out Smith's life in the context of political activism against colonial U.K. but also the internal uprisings of Mugabe and Joshua Nkmomo and external pressures from South Africa and reflects on that time to help explain the issues presented to modern day Zimbabwe.

Any one with an interest in twentieth century global politics and journalism will find this book a good read and perhaps an inspiration to order a more in depth biography of one or more of the characters Deedes highlights in the delightful compendium.

Disappointing
I was very disappointed with this book. It was not well written & was lacking in detail & interest. It seems to be simply a money spinner. There were a numer of characters whom he did not appear to know but merely met once or twice. I felt conned because I had hoped that he would have been able to provide some personal insights into the lives of these individuals. Alas, no.