Product Description

Edward Heath was the first of three Tory party leaders to break the public school tradition and achieve high office from humble origins. He was an intellectual who believed in one nation at the heart of Europe and the common good before personal gain. Yet, as Prime Minister at a time of flux, everything he tried to achieve led directly to its opposite - Thatcherism. For a man who never married, whose doting mother had waited on him hand and foot, it was a cruel irony to find himself sidelined on every major issue by a woman as wrong-headed as he believed Margaret Thatcher to be.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #366904 in Books
• Published on: 1993-07-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 876 pages

Customer Reviews

Important study of an unjustly overshadowed figure
This is a first-rate study of an underrated figure who is in danger of being overlooked by future generations. John Campbell makes a compelling case for Heath as a good prime minister who was overwhelmed by the economic crises that beset the West in the early 1970s. As a result, his is a political career that is defined by its failures (losing three of four elections while the leader of the Conservative Party) and is being overshadowed by those of his contemporaries -- Harold Wilson and Margaret Thatcher -- rather than for his critical role in the most important event of Britain's post-1945 history: entry into the European Economic Community and the European Union that followed. A well-written account of the man's life and the times in which he lived, this book is an important step towards according Heath his rightful place in history.

John Campbell's Worst Book - A Real Stinker Of A Biography!
Campbell is usually a great writer, unfortunately here he allows personal prejudice to distort his historical judgement. He spends most of the time trying to rehabilitate Edward Heath as a Prime Minister of note, rather than making a balanced and fair assessment of his record in office. Indeed, this is not so much, strictly speaking, a biography, as a polemic in support of Heath's record.

By any measure, the Heath government cannot be viewed as a success. Four depressing years, followed by defeat in a mis-timed General Election. The economic u-turn, the poor terms under which Britain entered the European Community, the Three Day Week, the power cuts and his dreadful handling of industrial relations are all glossed over here, in this apologia for one of the twentieth century's least successful Prime Ministers. One suspects that Campbell is just attempting to boost the deeply flawed Heath at the expense of his successor Thatcher, who Campbell clearly dislikes.

Above all, Campbell fails to make a critical analysis of his subject's persona. Heath is a fascinating person in this regard, especially with his legendary rude pomposity and sexual repression, but he escapes Campbell completely. This is a pity as his books on FE Smith and Nye Bevan are really impressive.

A detailed, balanced, biography of Ted Heath is eagerly awaited. In the meantime, don't bother with this exercise in hagiography.