Events, Dear Boy, Events: A Political Diary of Britain from Woolf to Campbell

by Ruth Winstone

Ruth Winstone retells Britain's history through the great diarists of the last century, drawing back the curtain on the lives of political classes, their doubts, ambitions, and emotions. She moves deftly among those in the thick of it, showing the elation, anger, doubts, jealousy, joys and fears of people as they record their own and the nation's triumphs and disasters. To this potent mix she adds the mordant perceptions of observers like Virginia Woolf, Cecil Beaton, Peter Hall and Roy Strong, and the vivid records of everyday life found in the diaries of otherwise ordinary men and women. "Events, Dear Boy, Events" reveals Britain's recent past in the words of the actors who were shaping the events of the day. This is living real-time history.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction

640 pages, ebook

First published October 1, 2012

Reviews

[Andy Holdcroft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting material, well presented but I did tire of the selection: not very objective. Much was included to throw bad light upon people the editor clearly did not think highly of (and the opposite to a lesser extent): not that I disagreed with her assessments, but several points were over made. Why multiple posts of stupid things which Noel Coward said about modern writers should be included in a book supposedly about politics......

[Artie LeBlanc · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather disappointing collection of extracts, heavily focussed on people who are of interest to the author, but not to the general reader. Disappointing.

[Jeff Howells · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite type of book to read is the diary, particularly the political diary so this book is right up my street. It is a compilation of diarists covering the years 1921 to 2010. All the usual suspects are there (Benn, Crossman, Castle, Clark & Campbell) plus a large number of unexpected ones (Alec Guinness turns up a few times, as does Deborah Bull the ballet dancer, Cecil Beaton and Brian Eno). The only (slight) problem is that the book does cover an extremely long time period, it could have benefited from a multi volume approach, each covering shorter periods in greater detail. That being said I hoovered up this book quickly even though it's over 600 pages long.

[John Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough going early on, but that reflects my rather tenuous grasp on interwar British history. Better after World War Two. This is definitely a book that should be read in old fashioned book form. I read it on the Kindle, which meant flicking to the bios of the contributors was impossible.

[Gillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable with snippets from the diaries of the politicians and
well known people of the era from 1920 to 2010. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who has, or is, living through this era.

[Simon Wellavize · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly riveting and interesting guide through Britain in (mainly)the twentieth Century.