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Burying Caesar: Churchill, Chamberlain and the Battle for the Tory Part
Burying Caesar is a gripping account of the mechanisms and motivations that underpin politics in Britain, forces that are as powerful today - on both sides of the Atlantic - as they were more than sixty years ago.
What were the political machinations that kept Neville Chamberlain in office during the 1930s and deliberately kept Winston Churchill out? Was Churchill the prophet of uncomfortable truths during his "wilderness years," or was Chamberlain right to pursue appeasement? These are just some of the questions Stewart answers in his original and engaging book. He examines the dynamics and deep-seated rivalries within the Tory party, pitting Chamberlain's partisans against Churchill's. While Chamberlain appeased Hitler at Munich and urged isolation at home, it was Churchill who emerged from his wilderness with his distinctive voice of moral authority and bulldog conviction. And in the end, history proved Churchill right.
What were the political machinations that kept Neville Chamberlain in office during the 1930s and deliberately kept Winston Churchill out? Was Churchill the prophet of uncomfortable truths during his "wilderness years," or was Chamberlain right to pursue appeasement? These are just some of the questions Stewart answers in his original and engaging book. He examines the dynamics and deep-seated rivalries within the Tory party, pitting Chamberlain's partisans against Churchill's. While Chamberlain appeased Hitler at Munich and urged isolation at home, it was Churchill who emerged from his wilderness with his distinctive voice of moral authority and bulldog conviction. And in the end, history proved Churchill right.
533 pages, Hardcover
First published July 8, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 18, 2023
Tea Bag Politics
Graham Stewart has rather aptly drawn an analogy here to the fact that Chamberlain had to be toppled by his own party members, in order for more able leaders to deal with a crises moment in Europe; much like Caesar was brought down by his friends in Roman history. The analogy has its limits but, the comparison the author makes is poignant. While not everyone would see it as a duty to knife a leader, in order to unseat him; most citizens in any century would concur with the right and obligation of our elected leaders to 'draw blood' in the political sense when there is a serious problem with leadership.
While reading this mammoth-feeling history, several titles for my review came to mind.
'When War and Peace Had Faces
'Appeasement vs. Armament: Foreign Policy and the Drift Toward War'
'Resolute Imperialism in an Entrenched Party'
'In the Dangerous Times of To-day'
All of these expressions aptly describe the work that Graham Stewart performs in setting out to create a 'political playbook' for the years leading up to the second 'World War.' The book is not a book about the war, per se, but it rather focuses directly on the rivalry between the two men who encapsulated the two faces of that era within the Conservative Party in Britain.
To elaborate on this 'forest through the trees' microscopic look at the minutia of day-to day politics; the book covers the family histories of these twin historical giants, the history of the Conservative Party relevant to the period of the 1930's, and the makeup of the party, the personal political power of Churchill himself, presented as an eminence grise persona from the 'backbench' of parliament for over a decade, the nature of the conflict on the continent with Germany and Italy preceding the war, and a good description of the military defense capabilities of the various European countries.
The extents to which Chamberlain went to maintain the peace, and his refusal to weigh the facts were quite shocking. At one point very close to the actual declaration of war, Chamberlain went fishing in Scotland, but Churchill went to inspect the Maginot Line in Northeast France. Barbara Cartland's (romance novelist) brother objected to the way in which Chamberlain was handling the crisis.
After giving this quote from Cartland, the author goes on to say,
This book is an excellent resource for those wanting to understand Churchill himself, and the politics of the prewar years in more depth. But, it is not an easy fast read. I spent a lot of time in the first part of the book researching facts and names of British politics, since I am more familiar with the political system of the USA. Starting with chapter six, things went quite a bit faster, but I think it was the result of my own research making the material in later chapters easier to understand. Once you've familiarized yourself with the workings of the Political System, I think you've done your homework, so to speak. But, it is well worth the effort, as I feel I learned a great deal here. As Gerry Connolly, another reader said in his Goodreads' review:
Also from Fleming Orth, another reader's review:
This is a hefty hardback first edition of this 25 year old work. But, it is really only just over 530 pages in length. It is the subject matter that makes it a longer read. It took me two months to finish, while reading other books in between the chapters for 'brain breaks.' Churchill was a monumental personage, and he was by no means perfect. I think that India may have been in a better position if he had not had a hand (or dagger) in the India Act debates of those years. And, he was wrong on more than one occasion. But, it quickly became clear to most of Europe and the world that Churchill was the man of the hour in these defining moments.
Graham Stewart has rather aptly drawn an analogy here to the fact that Chamberlain had to be toppled by his own party members, in order for more able leaders to deal with a crises moment in Europe; much like Caesar was brought down by his friends in Roman history. The analogy has its limits but, the comparison the author makes is poignant. While not everyone would see it as a duty to knife a leader, in order to unseat him; most citizens in any century would concur with the right and obligation of our elected leaders to 'draw blood' in the political sense when there is a serious problem with leadership.
While reading this mammoth-feeling history, several titles for my review came to mind.
'When War and Peace Had Faces
'Appeasement vs. Armament: Foreign Policy and the Drift Toward War'
'Resolute Imperialism in an Entrenched Party'
'In the Dangerous Times of To-day'
All of these expressions aptly describe the work that Graham Stewart performs in setting out to create a 'political playbook' for the years leading up to the second 'World War.' The book is not a book about the war, per se, but it rather focuses directly on the rivalry between the two men who encapsulated the two faces of that era within the Conservative Party in Britain.
"By now the Versailles treaty placed on Germany all the constraining features of a tea bag."
To elaborate on this 'forest through the trees' microscopic look at the minutia of day-to day politics; the book covers the family histories of these twin historical giants, the history of the Conservative Party relevant to the period of the 1930's, and the makeup of the party, the personal political power of Churchill himself, presented as an eminence grise persona from the 'backbench' of parliament for over a decade, the nature of the conflict on the continent with Germany and Italy preceding the war, and a good description of the military defense capabilities of the various European countries.
"With hindsight, all of Chamberlain's assumptions were fantastic errors of judgment, exercises in the most hallucinogenic wishful thinking."
The extents to which Chamberlain went to maintain the peace, and his refusal to weigh the facts were quite shocking. At one point very close to the actual declaration of war, Chamberlain went fishing in Scotland, but Churchill went to inspect the Maginot Line in Northeast France. Barbara Cartland's (romance novelist) brother objected to the way in which Chamberlain was handling the crisis.
"...there are thousands of young men at this moment in training camps, and giving up their holidays, and the least that we can do here, if we are not going to meet together time to time and keep parliament in session, is to show that we have immense faith in this Democratic Institution."
After giving this quote from Cartland, the author goes on to say,
"Cartland even singled out Chamberlain, accusing him of seeking to make jeering petty-fogging party speeches which divide the nation rather than getting the whole country behind him. This was an extraordinary outburst against his own leader and a number of Tories, furious at Cartland's strong language, demanded that the whip be removed from him. Chamberlain considered trying to engineer Cartland's deselection before the next general election. In the event there was no need. Cartland was killed in the retreat from Dunkirk."
This book is an excellent resource for those wanting to understand Churchill himself, and the politics of the prewar years in more depth. But, it is not an easy fast read. I spent a lot of time in the first part of the book researching facts and names of British politics, since I am more familiar with the political system of the USA. Starting with chapter six, things went quite a bit faster, but I think it was the result of my own research making the material in later chapters easier to understand. Once you've familiarized yourself with the workings of the Political System, I think you've done your homework, so to speak. But, it is well worth the effort, as I feel I learned a great deal here. As Gerry Connolly, another reader said in his Goodreads' review:
A great story but retold in dry prose and written as if the reader is au courant with the politics and figures of 1920’s and 1930’s Britain.
Also from Fleming Orth, another reader's review:
A clear distinction between Churchill's Britain living out its finest hour between 1940 and 1945 and the Britain of Baldwin and Chamberlain, struck hard by the twin calamities of World War I and the great depression and seeking only peace and comfort at almost any cost. This is what Burying Caesar brilliantly demonstrates.
This is a hefty hardback first edition of this 25 year old work. But, it is really only just over 530 pages in length. It is the subject matter that makes it a longer read. It took me two months to finish, while reading other books in between the chapters for 'brain breaks.' Churchill was a monumental personage, and he was by no means perfect. I think that India may have been in a better position if he had not had a hand (or dagger) in the India Act debates of those years. And, he was wrong on more than one occasion. But, it quickly became clear to most of Europe and the world that Churchill was the man of the hour in these defining moments.
"Another government loyalist on the Joint Select Committee, J.C.C. Davidson, thought that the episode demonstrated that Churchill 'never discriminates between his friends and his enemies, but treats them alike. A man may have quite recently been working intimately with him, and yet he will attack him with the same venom and bitterness as a Communist . . . perhaps that is why Winston has no friends.''
August 24, 2021
Burying Caesar is Graham Stewart’s detailed account of the rivalry between Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill. How fickle politics is: Churchill is in the wilderness for a decade while Chamberlain rises to the pinnacle only to be struck down by his own credulousness with Hitler and Munich. An honorable man Chamberlain supported his rival as wartime prime minister. A great story but retold in dry prose and written as if the reader is au courant with the politics and figures of 1920’s and 1930’s Britain.
February 16, 2025
Fascinating book about the Churchill and Chamberlain dynasties, and the long shadows of the early Victorian tariffs v free trade debates. I think it over focussed somewhat on the minutiae of day to day politics, but still very interesting.
September 14, 2014
Very absorbing and illuminating account of two generations of two prominent political families and their rivalry against the backdrop of tumultous events and changes in their country, the continent and the wider world... also a good account of how political rivalry and internal rifts in a party and nation can degrade its capacity for powerful, effective diplomacy.... fair. balanced assessments of all characters especially the last three premiers before Churchill...
August 1, 2015
Once you can overcome the author's seemingly pathological aversion to commas, this is a thorough, engaging book, though I find it less of a chronicle of a political rivalry than an accounting of Churchill and Chamberlain's disparate paths to political power.
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