Anthony Eden: A Life and Reputation

by David Dutton

Overview

As the centenary of his birth approaches, Anthony Eden remains one of the most controversial figures in the political history of twentieth-century Britain. Using a mass of unpublished archival material, much of it from Eden's own papers, Dutton reassesses the career of a man who experienced the extremes of political fortune.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780340691397
Publisher:	Hodder Arnold
Publication date:	10/28/1997
Series:	A Hodder Arnold Publication
Pages:	576
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.98(h) x 1.43(d)

About the Author

Liverpool University

Editorial Reviews

"A more penetrating study, such as this, is overdue and welcome."—The Telegraph

"Dutton's work is studiously objective."—The Sunday Telegraph

"This is a lucid, challenging and impressive book, which goes straight to the top of the list of books on Eden and British foreign policy."—Literary Review

"The strength of this book is that it cuts through much of the detail of his political career to give us a portrait that balances the light and the shade."—The Express

"It is a well written account, displaying a vast knowledge of the documentary sources."—History Today

"Highly convincing, as well as consistently interesting"—History Today

"It is written with the elegance that its subject deserves and it is an important addition to the growing body of scholarship on a British statesman."—Irish Economic and Social History

"...Dutton brings to his task a sound knowledge of contemporary British history, excellent research skills, and a clear literary style. He has produced an absorbing and judiciously balanced study of interest to the academic and general reader alike."—History

From the Publisher

The failed gamble of Suez in 1956 lay waste Eden's 30-year career in a number of positions at the top of the British government. Long the heir-apparent to Churchill, who kept postponing his retirement, Eden (1897-1977) occupied 10 Downing Street as prime minister for only 21 months. The Anglo-French attack on Egypt forced Eden's resignation, after which critics wondered whether he had been big enough for the job. In the shadow of Churchill, perhaps no one was, but Dutton, who lectures in modern history at the University of Liverpool in England, offers in this thoughtful work a cautiously sympathetic reappraisal. His reassessment-not a full life-examines the major facets of Eden's eventful service in several cabinets, from youthful foreign secretary to aging, ailing and embattled prime minister. Beginning with Eden's unheroic role in the prewar appeasement of Hitler and Mussolini, papered over by a well-publicized resignation, and concluding with the ghosts of Suez, Dutton ranges across crises and controversies, backing his deeply informed study with nearly 80 pages of notes. While he sees Eden as damaged by his reputation as the most elegant and handsome politician of his era, he sees Eden's personal deficiencies as less crucial than the historical hand he was dealt. As Dutton observes: "The management of the foreign policy of a nation which was, despite its traditions and obligations as a world power, in manifest decline, was no easy task." Misjudging what was to Eden a politically unsophisticated America marred his stewardship in general, but to Dutton his performance as Churchill's wartime partner is credit enough to lift Eden's faded reputation. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Dutton (modern history, Univ. of Liverpool) proves here that U.S. politicians don't have a monopoly on Teflon coating. Dutton recounts how Eden, British prime minister from 1955 to 1957, managed to steer clear of accountability for dubious political judgments and the injudicious acts of his Conservative Party colleagues. His luck ran out when he finally grasped the ring of the prime minister's post and Egypt's Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956. Britain and France's military effort to regain control of the canal was short-lived after U.S. support was withheld. That crisis and failing health forced Eden to resign the following year. Dutton aims to complement the respected biographies by David Carlton (Anthony Eden, LJ 9/1/81) and Robert Rhodes James (Anthony Eden, LJ 7/87), focusing here on the highlights of Eden's political career. Recommended for academic libraries.Paul Burnam, Ohio Wesleyan Univ. Libs., Delaware

Library Journal