The Macmillan Years
By Richard Lamb
An in-depth look like no other…
From 1957-1963, Harold Macmillan was the Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative party. A statesman like no other, Macmillan’s time in government was marked by success and marred by scandals.
After thirty years since his time, Cabinet papers and other private papers are in the public eye…
Armed with the new disclosed information and hindsight prospective, Richard Lamb takes an in-depth look and asks the question: were the Macmillan years successful overall – or did they do more harm than good for future generations?
Taking on different aspects of Macmillan’s premiership, Lamb carefully puzzles together an accurate and unbiased biography of Macmillan’s political career. From the fraught negotiations of entering the UK to EEC and de Gaulle’s bombshell veto, the special relationship between the US and the UK (covering both Eisenhower and JFK’s presidency), the question of nuclear armaments, the crisis between West and East Berlin, the actions of Khrushchev and the Soviet Union, the problem of the commonwealth and, later, independence for Britain’s former African colonies, to Macmillan’s internal handlings of the Conservative party, the Profumo Scandal and it’s unfortunate consequences.
As revealed by Lamb, Macmillan wasn’t always the prized statesman he was portrayed as, in both his memoirs and his official biography. With a keen eye for personal letters and memos, Lamb is able to present an accurate picture of Macmillan – from the words of his closest associates.
In showing both Macmillan’s personal failings but also his triumphs in the face of considerable disadvantages, Lamb offers a balanced and nuanced assessment of the man. Well-researched and written with meticulous accuracy, Lamb’s The Macmillan Years: The Emerging Truth is a brilliant biography.
A journalist, broadcaster and writer, Richard Lamb served with the Eighth Army during the Second World War. He was editor of War Monthly from 1978 to 1982, and is the author of two recent books, The Ghosts of Peace 1935-1945 and The Failure of the Eden Government.
