Charmed Life: The Phenomenal World of Philip Sassoon

by Damian Collins

The story of a fascinating man who connected the great politicians, artists and thinkers at the height of British global power and influence.

A famed aesthete, politician and patron of the arts, Philip Sassoon lived in a world of English elegance and oriental flair. Gathering a social set that would provide inspiration for Brideshead Revisited, Sassoon gave parties at which Winston Churchill argued with George Bernard Shaw, while Noël Coward and Lawrence of Arabia mingled with flamingos and Rex Whistler painted murals as the party carried on around them.

Not merely a wealthy socialite, he worked at the right hand of Douglas Haig during the First World War and then for Prime Minister Lloyd George for the settlement of the peace. He was close to King Edward VIII during the abdication crisis, and Minister for the Air Force in the 1930s. And yet as the heir of wealthy Jewish traders from the souks of Baghdad, Philip craved acceptance from the English establishment. In Charmed Life, Damian Collins explores an extraordinary connected life at the heart of society during the height of British global power and influence.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, British Literature

385 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 2, 2016

Reviews

[Miss M · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of those biographies that lays out the facts but never catches fire.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

If ever a man lived the 'Downton Abbey' ideal life of the rich and glamorous, that man was Philip Sassoon, a man with beautiful houses and luxury estates, private planes, paintings and antiques, with all the world his for the asking price. He was also something of an outsider - permanently single, potentially gay, with an Oriental exoticism from his Middle Eastern Jewish roots - who simultaneously cultivated the most elevated of social circles, operating at the very heart of the social and political elite. He was friends with royalties and celebrities, Prime Ministers and diplomats, artists and athletes, his various homes the centre of a vibrant and colourful social set that has come to epitomise the decadence and glamour of the interwar years.

But it wasn't all luxury and aesthetics. Sassoon served as MP for Hythe for almost his entire adult life, inheriting the seat from his father in his youth. Sassoon fought in the First World War, albeit not in the trenches but as Douglas Haig's right-hand man, a position he also filled with David Lloyd George in the immediate post-war years. He was Minister for Air and whilst serving his government loyally also supported Churchill in his opposite campaign to increase military spending, agreeing with Churchill's wilderness position of warning against the growing Nazi threat.

All things considered Sassoon was a man of mystery and romance, around whom swirled many of the pivotal figures of the time, all of which makes for a fascinating read. His life serves as a real prism in which to view the decade and wealth of the era. And yet there is almost a Sassoon-shaped hole at the centre of this book, because the man himself remains beyond reach. His life is well documented but there is little of the personal, the private, the intimate here. His loves and desires, his impulses, his motivations, his hopes, his regrets - all remain opaque. I'm not even entirely sure I can call this book a biography - one usually leaves a biography with more of a sense of the personal than is present here. In some ways this is almost more about the events and the people in which Sassoon was so intimately connected than it is about him. And yet at the same time, for a man so keen to cultivate important people and be of use to them, that seems strangely appropriate as well.

[Tony Siciliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating biography of a man who was a fabulously wealthy, unimaginably kind, talented mystery. He came from a family of wealthy Jewish traders, including the Rothschilds, yet was educated and raised as a proper Englishman. His love of art and all things aesthetic influenced much of what he did politically. His ability to know everyone worth knowing made him the chum of kings and queens, prime ministers and cabinet officers of both parties, and provided in his several magnificent homes a place for the illustrious personalities in all fields to meet and interact. Reading this biography might lead you to believe his life was one big dinner party. But he was a perceptive man who charmed the voters and was an MP for many years. His focus on building up England's air defenses before World War II contributed to England's eventual victory in the 1940 Battle of Britain. In Parliament, he served prime ministers of both parties, so great were his skills of organization and collaboration. As a Jew, he fought being considered "other" and somehow not quite really British. In this regard, he was most successful. His talents and skills preceded him in all respects. The political and social life of England during the 1920s and 1930s would have been unthinkable without him. While he was probably gay, and his closest friends were generally gay men and women, his romantic interests were hidden and he had no known romantic involvements with anyone. His life ended much too soon, and one can only wonder what other achievements he might have attained had he lived. I enjoyed this biography tremendously and being introduced to someone I had not known before.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

More politics than personality. No psychological insight. Made an interesting person rather boring. The footnotes were annoyingly simple and, in at least one case, incorrect. There were no illustrations in my paperback copy, though, frustratingly, there was a list of them! Maddening! Overall - disappointing.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 2 out of 5]

The problem with Philip Sassoon is that everything makes him interesting to us, his life as a gay man, was after his death, comprehensively destroyed. All we are left with is whispers. But the reality is that he was an immensely rich member of the immensely rich Sassoon family who went into politics and held some minor political offices and was involved in the arts etc. He was everything the book boasts of - rich, well connected but he was incredibly discreet so aside from the total lack of papers, letters, etc. there are also no anecdotes. Sasson might have been as much an aesthete as Harold Acton or as debauched as Brian Howard but he left no residue. Not even that prolific gossip Anthony Burgess had any stories about Sassoon and neither did any of the other members of that gilded coterie of rich, artistic or literary figures who survived to write memoirs or just talk endlessly about the glorious 'Brideshead' generation. He may get a mention as 'also there' but there is no flesh or blood, or stories from friends thus any attempt at biography is hopelessly hamstrung and doomed to speculation and guesswork and, honestly, the result is a dull book. Sassoon may have invited young airmen to take advantage of his luxurious country home and swimming pool as a prelude to seduction or maybe it was just fun to have a load of good looking men running around in the altogether. He may have given delightful parties for other 'musically' inclined (ie queer) MPs and society friends to plot their opposition to appeasement but, in truth, we don't know and never will. We don't even know if there was a truth to suppress. Absence of evidence doesn't mean it ever existed. Sassoon if it wasn't for his name and money and his homosexuality (applying names like 'gay' to men like Sassoon is absurd) wouldn't have a book written about him - his public life and career are insignificant.

On the evidence of this book Sassoon would be better served by fiction rather then biography but even then evidence is fairly thin.

I give this biography two stars because the fault is not the author but the subject. No one else could write a better biography, and within the limits of the material it is a good biography, Sassoon just isn't a very interesting subject.

[Helen Carolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very disappointing read. While we get a lot of politics and learn about Sassoon's fabulous houses we learn nothing about Sassoon the man. Perhaps the fact that this book was written by a politician explains why it is heavy on the political side of Sassoon's life.Having gotten to the end of this political tract I feel I still no nothing about the man himself. Perhaps Mr Collins should stick to the day job.

[Pirate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damian Collins is on of the more colourful characters among a pretty pallid modern day group of MPs so it is no surprise that he has penned a stylish, fascinating and illuminating biography of one of his predecessors in his constituency -- no not Michael 'prison works' Howard -- but the intriguing Sir Philip Sassoon. Aesthete, politician, Haig's loyal adjutant in The Great War -- remained so eve after he was no longer in the army -- and patron of the arts plus a consummate networker moving seamlessly from Lloyd George's confidant and organiser of pivotal Franco-Anglo meetings at his Port Lympne estate to Churchill loyalist even remaining friends as Chirchill bombarded from the backbenches the Conservative Government and Sassoon as Air Minister in particular over the lack of urgency in building fighter planes. Fascinating origins with the family originating in Iraq and taking a circuitous route to England Collins observes how Sassoon when he went on a grand tour o air bases in the lands he had come from there was no nostalgic references to that as if he didn't wish to draw attention to the fact that despite an Eton and Oxford education he was not quite of the establishment in background. Collins has produced a sublime work of art himself in bringing to life a remarkable man -- though the air of mystery both of character and sexuality remains through his own masterly self-control as highlighted by his friend Evan Charteris 'He spoke rarely from his innermost mind, still more rarely did he disclose the sense of tears that lay below his matchless gift for laughter, his high spirits and his boundless zest for life'-- and takes the reader through a fascinating turbulent period of history embracing the likes of Edward VIII, Lawrence of Arabia, who became a firm friend of Sassoon's to Charlie Chaplin, Rex Whistler to Duff-Cooper and the waspish politician/diarist Chips Channon. Sassoon -- never close to his war poet and fellow WWI officer cousin Siegfried for to do so would have been to cast doubt on his justifying the slaughter under Haig -- formed many close friendships but there is an interesting observation made by Edward VIII, who may be judged foolish by some for surrendering the throne for a woman but was far from stupid, remarking that Sassoon's friendship could be cloying and one could have too much of Sassoon...the opposite can be said of this book one can't have enough. For such a life rich in all senses of the word -- one is left wondering what more he could have achieved and what role he might have fulfilled under Churchill in WWII had he lived -- the scattering of hi ashes from one of his beloved aircraft of 601 Squadron is rather banal....'a modest cardboard box...marked 'Lipton's Tea'.

[Jonathan Damsgaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched, focused a lot of the political and public social aspects of his life. Gave a real sense of his personality, positive and negative. Where i felt it lacked, as other books such as Glamour Boys has touched on, is his relationships and sexual life as a queer, bisexual man. Felt as this was glossed over, if mentioned.

[Richard Krieger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read about Philip Sassoon in other biographies and history books, but this is the first in depth book on his life and times. Queer, politically important, he was at the center of a changing world, playing key roles in international politics. Then of course, there is his personal and artistic life which is just as fascinating.

[Craig Rimmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful rich tapestry of a life written about with such warmth and affection that the reader is transported back in time most dramatically to the roaring twenties but also to Edwardian England, Flanders fields and the gathering storm of the thirties.

[Clare Greenall · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read but I don't feel it got under the subject's veneer. I now know lots of facts about his life but he never came alive for me. However, the notes have plenty of further reading ideas.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

It promised a lot, but didn't quite get there. All the same, a lot to fuel my interest in this particular period and a little sad that it all had to come to an end.