Product Description

Hailed by Margaret Thatcher as the founder of modern conservatism, Keith Joseph is commonly ranked among the most influential politicians of the late-20th century. A complex and enigmatic figure Joseph was almost unique among Mrs Thatcher's senior ministers in refusing to write his own memoirs. Challenging both the "mad monk" view held by his critics and his status of mythical hero to his admirers, the authors present a picture of Joseph as a thinker and decision-maker. the authors tell of Joseph's formative years before he entered Parliamnet in 1956: the powerful Jewish dynasty into which Josph was born; his time at Harrow; at Oxford; his war years in the Royal Artillery; and his Fellowship at All Souls. This volume charts the political career of Keith Joseph. The authors challenge Joseph's self-declared conversion to Conservatism in 1974 and the importance of his "education" of Margaret Thatcher. His own ambition, intellectual integrity and consistency are all examined and a different picture emerges of his role as the intellectual driving force behind Conservative Government policy in the 1980s.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #342161 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Review
"Sets a new standard for political biography" John Gray, New Statesman "Essential reading for all students of recent Conservative history" Robert Black, Times Literary Supplement "An excellent book about one of the stranger political careers of modern times." Anthony Howard, Sunday Times "A beautifully proportioned work, sound in its judgements and psychologically acute. One of the best biographies indeed of recent years." Vernon Bogdanor, Times Higher Educational Supplement "Excellent ... a thoroughly researched, well-written and thought-provoking book." John Campbell, Independent "an exceptional work of scholarship" Hugo Young, Guardian "A solid and well-organized account, based on meticulous research." Peter Clarke, London Review of Books "A very good study" Dennis Kavanagh, Daily Telegraph "A fine new biography, the first full-length one, offers the chance to reassess the legacy of this most complex and tortured of men." Nicholas Timmins, Financial Times "essential reading" Geoffrey Goodman, Tribune "A very fine piece of scholarship" E.H.H.Green, Twentieth Century British History "Rich in detail and insight" Michael Kenny, Political Quarterly "A thought-provoking and distinguised book." Ben Pimlott "excellent ... challenges the myths about the controversial figure." Keith Alderman, Parliamentary Affairs

Customer Reviews

Press reviews posted by a UK reader
John Gray in The New Statesman, 23 April 2001 >

Andrew Denham's and Mark Garnett's Keith Joseph sets a new standard for political biography. Exhaustively researched and covering every aspect of the career of this at once confessional and elusive personality, it will surely be the standard work on the subject for many years to come. But this is much more than a comprehensive, balanced and minutely detailed account of Joseph's life. Denham and Garnett have given us one of the very few worthwhile studies of the role of ideas in politics. Like all good historians, they are fully aware that the interactions of "ideas" with "events" are never simple, and sometimes highly paradoxical. Politicians rewrite history as they go along - including the history of their ideas. This is nowhere more evident than in the case of Keith Joseph.

Anthony Howard in The Sunday Times, 22 April 2001 >

Politicians' reputations are as flimsy as they are fleeting. Mention the name Keith Joseph to anyone under 35 and the chances are that all you will get in return is a blank stare. But in his time, the man whom his critics cruelly labelled the "Mad Monk" was widely regarded as the founder of Thatcherism, the philosopher king of free-market conservatism.

The authors of this balanced biography - two young university lecturers - are probably right to say that their subject did himself no favours by lunging back into government at the age of 61 for his last period as a minister between 1979 and 1986. Had he been content to rest on his laurels he had already won - first as a brisk, businesslike administrator under Macmillan, Home and Heath, and then as a prophet armed with a revolutionary new dogma for contemporary Torysim - his fame would in all probability have lasted better than it has. It was those final seven years under the goddess whom he worshipped that saw to it that he could too easily be dismissed (in the earlier phrase of one of his own colleagues) as being as "nutty as a fruit cake".

Andrew Denham and Mark Garnett have written an excellent book about one of the stranger political careers of modern times ... bringing out the charm and attraction of a politician who dared to believe that ideas are the most potent forces in life. That is rare enough in the Labour party - among Tories it is almost unprecedented.

Interesting but over critical
Some biographies are written by fans who go over the top eulogising their heroes. Others do the exact opposite, like the poisonous Life And Death Of Peter Sellers by Roger Lewis. This biog is one of the critical ones. It is extremely well written and researched but poor old Joseph gets lambasted by the authors whether he goes too far or whether he doesn't go far enough. He can't win. And of course he isn't here to defend himself. Apart from that, my only other criticism would be that the book does not discuss Joseph's everyday life (rather than politics) a bit more.

A very good biography
Keith Joseph is one of the forgotten figures of Conservative politics. It was him who lay the ground for the rise of Thatcherism but he was responsible for much more. The book itself is very readable but is perhaps overly critical at times plus seems to have as one of its main heroes Michael Foot who always seems to be proved to have been right in the end. All in all a very good book although not a light read.