Oliver Baldwin: A Life of Dissent

by Christopher J. Walker

This biography of soldier, statesman, and journalist Oliver Risdale Baldwin, second Earl Baldwin, examines Baldwin's life from his privileged days at Eton as the son of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin to his dangerous assignment as correspondent for the Daily Mail covering the Spanish Civil War. Also covered are his contentious years in politics as a Socialist in the House of Commons, opposing his conservative father; his experiences in World War I and its aftermath in war-torn Armenia; and his years as a journalist, including his influential article ""No Fascism for British Youth."" Baldwin's private papers and archival research also reveal Baldwin's domestic life with lover John Boyle.

355 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

Reviews

[Simon Colbeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written two decades ago when maybe it was still okay to make sympathetic allowances for 'socialists' who wanted their own very British version of equality to include servants, titles and a Rolls Royce... I found the cod-Freudian speculation a bit repetetive. The writer seems reluctant to draw out the many contradictions between the son's professed socialism and his aspirations to a privileged sub-Bloomsbury lifestyle; or which of the two was more problematic for his relationship with his parents and siblings, his early mentor Kipling, his career and his public image.
There was nothing unusual about the 'don't tell' coyness on homosexuality in the upper middle class which allowed Oliver B and his (Tory) partner to live protected from serious fears of public scandal despite an oppressive prevailing homophobia. But Walker infers that persistent rumours of 'impropriety' with young men and boys during Oliver's long occupational separations from 'Johnny', were maliciously unfounded; citing the (barely coded) rumours and some (fairly obvious) references in Baldwin's letters, without considering any possibility of fire behind the smoke.
It seems there was courage, adventure and principle; psycho-drama with elements of tragedy in Oliver's episodically interesting life... but maybe not enough to warrant a full-scale biography... if he hadn't been Stanley Baldwin's son.

[Ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

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