Malcolm Muggeridge: A Life

by Ian Hunter

This biography of Malcolm Muggeridge traces the varied life of one of the most brilliant and controversial men of the twentieth century. The author, Ian Hunter, was given full access to all of Muggeridge's unpublished material, letters, and diaries. The result is an objective, well-researched, and honest account that is sometimes at variance with Muggeridge's own recollection of events. Ian Hunter captures the humor, the intellect, the rawness of perception, the abandoned honesty of a man engaged in knowing himself, his world, and his God. Malcolm Muggeridge was not merely a "vendor of words," as he invariably described himself, but was also a celebrated author, broadcaster, lecturer, debater, traveller, journalist and television personality, a one-time ardent admirer of the Soviet system, a World War II intelligence agent, and a former agnostic turned committed Christian. To many people, however, Malcolm Muggeridge was admired above all for his superb use of the English language. It is to the credit of Ian Hunter that after reading this biography one has a clearer understanding of an extraordinary man. Dr. Ian Hunter is professor emeritus at the University of Western Ontario. His articles and reviews have appeared in many Canadian and American poublications. He edited two collections of Muggeridge's writings: Things Past and The Very Best of Malcolm Muggeridge; he also wrote a biography of Muggeridge's friend, Hesketh Pearson (Nothing to Repent: The Life of Heskerth Pearson).

284 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1980

About the author

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There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Paul Dubuc · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written biography and tribute to a great man.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to learn more about the man oft quoted by Ravi Zacharias. I started his memoirs but could not persevere through them. This concise well written biography gave a more objective view of the life of a man who traveled many winding paths to find who he really was. Definitely worth the time to read if you have any interest in who he was or some insight into the history of the times he lived through and had an impact upon.

[Dave Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

When reflecting on his life’s vocation, Malcolm Muggeridge often referenced the architecture of the medieval cathedral. “Let’s think of the steeple and the gargoyle. The steeple is this beautiful thing…attempting something utterly impossible-to climb up to heaven…The gargoyle is this little man grinning and laughing at the absurd behavior of men on earth, and these two things (are) built into this building to the glory of God.

Ian Hunter’s “Malcolm Muggeridge,” is a revelation. To view the events of the last century. through Muggeridge’s journalistic eye, is to experience reality from the perspective of one of God’s gargoyles.

In his prime, Muggeridge was a force of nature. After graduating from Cambridge-with a triple in the physical sciences- he taught English literature in India and Egypt. Muggeridge was a considerable character. He possessed unparalleled literary talents. He knew everyone and traveled everywhere: teaching English literature in India and Egypt after studying physical sciences at Cambridge, taking assignments in Moscow, Washington, New York, Berlin, Tokyo . In World War II, Muggeridge was a spy with MI6, stationed in Mozambique and Paris. He was, according to Hunter, an “outstanding secret agent,” responsible for capturing a German U-boat. Muggeridge was also a formidable public performer, by nature a contrarian. As Rector of the University of Edinburgh, he was fearless in the face of student protests. And, as if to underscore Emerson’s aphorism, “Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds,” he celebrated his “contradictions.”

Muggeridge was probably the first Western journalist to expose the terror of Soviet totalitarianism. He was equally prescient regarding Hitler, excoriating appeasement. In addition, Muggeridge had the rare temerity to suggest left-wing tyranny and right-wing tyranny were opposite sides of the same coin. For this, the extant liberal media never forgave him.

A lifelong stranger, really a depressive, Hunter relates the details of Muggeridge’s suicide attempt during the war. “Driving out along the deserted coastline, undressing in the darkness, wading out until the cold inky water rose around him, swimming out further and further…Then suddenly, overcome by a desire to live, by a mysterious certainty that all life is good and that all the strands- the suffering, self-betrayal, loneliness and degradation no less than the ecstasy, creativity, and peace- all come together to form a unity… A spirit so ineffable that men were reduced to a monosyllable-God. The pilgrim’s journey had begun.

In the 1970s, Muggeride’s diagnosis of afflictions facing liberalism were celebrated in Moscow, and ignored in the West. In 1973, Muggeridge’s “Operation Deathwish '' observed:

“As the astronauts soar into the vast eternities of space, on earth the garbage piles higher; as the groves of academe extend their domain, their alumni’s arms reach lower… In great wealth. great poverty; in health, sickness; in numbers, deception. Gorging, left hungry; sedated, left restless; telling all, hiding all; in flesh united, forever separate. So we press on along the valley of abundance that leads to the wasteland of satiety, passing on our way through the gardens of fantasy; seeking happiness ever more ardently, and finding despair ever more surely.”

Hunter’s biography is an excellent look at a great, but forgotten, writer.

[Geo Forman · Rating 3 out of 5]

a very interesting book about someone whom I knew next to nothing about, which surprises me now that I have read the book.