Product Description

A scion of two great families, Arthur James Balfour was born to wealth and privilege and possessed intellect and charm in legendary abundance. On succeeding his uncle as Prime Minister in 1902, it seemed that he had come into his inheritance; a true grandee, his path to the summit of power – if not guaranteed – seemed to be almost without obstruction. He held office longer than any other Cabinet minister and, in a fifty-year career, dealt with successes and defeats with similar equanimity. When he chose, he retreated into the insulated worlds of family, friends and ideas, and in each he was the unquestioned centre.

Balfour was a Conservative, though never a true-blue Tory like the powerful squirearchy who viewed him with awe but often found him difficult to understand. Perhaps he was too many different things: a Scottish laird and an English sophisticate; a ferocious partisan and a celebrated philosopher; a champion of Christianity yet a defender of spiritualism; an Imperialist and a Zionist; an Etonian and a reformer of state education. A confirmed bachelor, for five decades he enjoyed a loving friendship with Lady Elcho. His own premiership was destroyed by party strife, yet he was the maker of the 1917 Balfour Declaration and the 1926 Balfour Definition of the Commonwealth and, aged seventy-three, dominated the pivotal 1921–2 Washington Naval Conference.

His was a remarkable life, unimaginable today no matter one’s talents or wealth. It is interesting to note that the enduring quip, ‘Bob’s your uncle’, originally referred to the nephew of Robert, Marquess of Salisbury – Arthur Balfour.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #412968 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 496 pages

Review

Praise for Bonar Law:
‘A fine biography, scholarly, wise and generous’

(David Gilmour, Financial Times )

‘This is an authoritative book . . . an essential work’

(John Vincent, The Spectator )

‘[The book] shows that Adams’s proved ability to write general history is matched by his talent for biography’

(John Grigg, The Times )

‘Intelligent, lucid, immaculately researched’

(Philip Ziegler, Daily Telegraph )

‘A masterly life of a modest man’

(Paul Addison )

About the Author

R. J. Q. Adams is Patricia and Bookman Peters Professor of History at Texas A&M University. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he is a former Research Fellow of St Catherine’s College, Oxford, and is the author of many acclaimed books on British political history in the Edwardian and inter-war periods. He is currently writing a book about the reign of George V.

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Customer Reviews

Best study of a continuing enigma
Balfour remains an enigmatic figure. As a mass of contradictions he still poses problems to historians, who are invariably left wondering which diversion he considered his true calling; politician or philosopher? This sense of unease shows itself in every book written on Balfour and, though to a lesser extent, Adams' new biography is no exception. Although not so dazzled by his subject as Max Egremont, whose biography is still a useful introduction to Balfour's life and career, Adams reveals little of the man that was not already known. Happily, he avoids idle speculation regarding Balfour's emotional life and concentrates instead on a refreshingly objective and elegant study of his political beliefs and achievements. This is by far the best biography on Balfour and, although it offers little detailed study of his political career or philosophical outlook, as a general survey of his life and career is unlikely to be bettered.

The Most Modern of Archaic Politicians
Prof. Adams provides the most accurate account ever of this now extinct (as the subtitle indicates) yet facinating breed of politician. A born aristocrat who literally inherited the premiership from his uncle, Balfour served as Tory leader for twenty years during which time he led his party's futile campaign against Irish nationalism and endorsed the Conservatives' suicidal reversion to support for high tariffs which Disraeli had rightly concluded were not only dead but damned. Yet, Balfour championed progressive views on education, was facinated by science and technology and became an outstanding Foreign Secretary under Lloyd George. One can see Balfour, unlike most Victorians, easily settling into today's world consulting a laptop computer while riding in the back of a chauffeured Bentley.

A Good Book About an Irritating and Feckless Politician
A comprehensive, well written and well researched biography of the Conservative Prime Minister and life-long member of the political class. This book covers the full life of Balfour from his privileged beginnings, his sponsorship in the Commons by his uncle Lord 'Bob' Salisbury, his short unsuccessful three year term as Prime Minister leading a party split on the subject of tariff reform and, finally, his extended service in the war-time coalition of Lloyd George.
The problem with this book is the subject, Balfour himself. Whilst he was known to be excellent company and engaged in erudite and stimulating conversation, particularly with his intimates known as 'The Souls', his political career was far from sparkling. Balfour was vain, indecisive and chronically indolent so it is of little surprise that his extended period as leader of his party in the Commons under the premiership of Lord Salisbury was lacklustre in terms of solid achievement. Balfour's premiership was riven by a lack of leadership and an inability to resolve arguments on tariff reform; periodically calling for 'freedom of action' rather than resolving a party line. (Some readers may find this very reminiscent of John Major and the arguments on Europe.)
The most notable characteristic of Balfour's activity in the Lloyd George coalition was his tendency to write ambivalent and often ambiguous position papers that were then usually ignored, so that he was present at many events but actually contributed little. The odious 'Balfour Declaration' which within its few lines is immediately self contradictory is typical of his ambiguity. Again Balfour's intention, apart from placating his friends, was to resolve the local assimilation or non-assimilation question for the Jews, whereas the Declaration did the complete opposite and perpetuated the question for as long as a Zionist state of Israel exists.
A good book about an irritating and feckless politician.