William Hague/ William Pitt the Younger
Historical biography/ 2004; my version Paperback (2005)/ 600 pages/ Borrowed and not purchased!
3 nods out of 5
A winner of various awards, including the 2005 History Book of the Year at the British Book Awards, and garner of accolades from parties across the Westminster spectrum, such as Shirley Williams of the Liberal Democrats, William Hague’s recounting of the life of William Pitt is primarily a read of relaxation.
Our longest serving Prime Minister but one (Walpole of the early eighteenth century lays claim to such fame; however, Pitt never used the title ‘Prime Minister’ himself, it being a term of derision in the 1700s), he became chief of Westminster at the tender age of twenty-four, heading the country for 19 of the following 22 years. Hague charts his life, from child prodigy and son of William Pitt the elder, to his entrance in Westminster to his early death. Initially known as ‘Honest Billy’ for his seeming refusal to succumb to bribes and live off the fat of patronage – as was the custom of the age – his time in office saw him transform from being an advocate of parliamentary and economic reform to become a leader popularly portrayed as a repressor of political rights (infamously suspending Habeas Corpus in the 1790s).
The French Revolution of 1789 is seen as the primary cause of such a change, with the elites of England eager to suppress any similar uprising on this island. Dashed was Pitt’s dream of slaying the beast of National Debt, being converted into war-time leader against the raging French of what would become the Napoleonic Wars. Hague leaves many questions open as to Pitt’s effectiveness as a war-time PM, being reluctant to give comparisons to the likes of Winston Churchill. The effects of war took their toll on Pitt, as he became a darker character, highly probable alcoholic; whilst his lack of relationships outside of Westminster (he never married, with Hague only briefly considering suggestions of homosexuality) appear to show a stunted man, the price for so long occupying such an important post.
Pitt died with England still in midst of war with Napoleon – it would be another 9 years before peace was declared – with his dying words: ‘My country, oh! My country; how I leave my country’ (however, there is a second attributed line, the somewhat less dramatic: ‘I think I could eat one of Bellamy’s veal pies’). Such was the duress of leading the country for two decades – as well as the voluminous helpings of port – that his body was broken by its end, being labelled the body of a ninety year old, rather than that of a man in his mid-forties.
Hague’s biography is one in a tradition of this much noted Prime Minister; yet, in the modern age – where other PM’s have had much print expended on them – Pitt has had relatively little exposure. Such a new appraisal, then, is welcomed – as is the author’s expertise: a politician of Westminster, and too, like Pitt, a young star of his party, being in his mid-thirties when he became head of the Conservative Party in 1997. He speaks with authority, as a man who knows the parliamentary system - albeit the bloated, media hyped twenty-first century version over the more low-key late eighteenth century Westminster. Furthermore, Hague’s humour allows the reader to delight in accounts of Pitt’s love of port, King George’s madness and shaking hands with a tree – mistakenly thinking it to be the King of Prussia – whilst giving exposure to classic figures in Georgian political history, namely Fox and his scandals and those who later played mammoth roles in the Tory party (including Canning and Castlereagh).
Yet despite its plaudits, the book has its flaws. Primarily, its size: 600 pages in paperback. Unfortunately, Hague is prone to becoming engulfed by the larger political events of the time, taking us into the diplomatic forays as far a field as Russia. Furthermore, the personal experiences of Pitt seem to go neglected in the first period of the wars against Revolutionary France, Hague being heavily reliant on the correspondence between Pitt and his mother which seemingly dried up in this period. Personal flavour is only later resumed with the arrival of Pitt’s niece, Lady Hester Stanhope, into the household, who proceeded to insult the major political players of the day, calling Castlereagh his ‘monotonous Lordship’. By negating Pitt’s personal life in preferment of the great international landscape, the charm the book enjoys in its first hundred pages is lost. Such accusations, then, prevent Hague’s biography from becoming any sort of classic of modern political history.
Hague followed this biography with another on a second William (Wilberforce, of whom Pitt enjoyed a close friendship). Is there to be the William trilogy? My hopes are that he dedicates his time to the influential journalist of the early third of the nineteenth century, William Cobbett.
John Major said of Hague’s work: ‘If you only buy one political biography this year, make it this one’. The question remains as to how many MPs claimed it on expenses?
Historical biography/ 2004; my version Paperback (2005)/ 600 pages/ Borrowed and not purchased!
3 nods out of 5
A winner of various awards, including the 2005 History Book of the Year at the British Book Awards, and garner of accolades from parties across the Westminster spectrum, such as Shirley Williams of the Liberal Democrats, William Hague’s recounting of the life of William Pitt is primarily a read of relaxation.
Our longest serving Prime Minister but one (Walpole of the early eighteenth century lays claim to such fame; however, Pitt never used the title ‘Prime Minister’ himself, it being a term of derision in the 1700s), he became chief of Westminster at the tender age of twenty-four, heading the country for 19 of the following 22 years. Hague charts his life, from child prodigy and son of William Pitt the elder, to his entrance in Westminster to his early death. Initially known as ‘Honest Billy’ for his seeming refusal to succumb to bribes and live off the fat of patronage – as was the custom of the age – his time in office saw him transform from being an advocate of parliamentary and economic reform to become a leader popularly portrayed as a repressor of political rights (infamously suspending Habeas Corpus in the 1790s).
The French Revolution of 1789 is seen as the primary cause of such a change, with the elites of England eager to suppress any similar uprising on this island. Dashed was Pitt’s dream of slaying the beast of National Debt, being converted into war-time leader against the raging French of what would become the Napoleonic Wars. Hague leaves many questions open as to Pitt’s effectiveness as a war-time PM, being reluctant to give comparisons to the likes of Winston Churchill. The effects of war took their toll on Pitt, as he became a darker character, highly probable alcoholic; whilst his lack of relationships outside of Westminster (he never married, with Hague only briefly considering suggestions of homosexuality) appear to show a stunted man, the price for so long occupying such an important post.
Pitt died with England still in midst of war with Napoleon – it would be another 9 years before peace was declared – with his dying words: ‘My country, oh! My country; how I leave my country’ (however, there is a second attributed line, the somewhat less dramatic: ‘I think I could eat one of Bellamy’s veal pies’). Such was the duress of leading the country for two decades – as well as the voluminous helpings of port – that his body was broken by its end, being labelled the body of a ninety year old, rather than that of a man in his mid-forties.
Hague’s biography is one in a tradition of this much noted Prime Minister; yet, in the modern age – where other PM’s have had much print expended on them – Pitt has had relatively little exposure. Such a new appraisal, then, is welcomed – as is the author’s expertise: a politician of Westminster, and too, like Pitt, a young star of his party, being in his mid-thirties when he became head of the Conservative Party in 1997. He speaks with authority, as a man who knows the parliamentary system - albeit the bloated, media hyped twenty-first century version over the more low-key late eighteenth century Westminster. Furthermore, Hague’s humour allows the reader to delight in accounts of Pitt’s love of port, King George’s madness and shaking hands with a tree – mistakenly thinking it to be the King of Prussia – whilst giving exposure to classic figures in Georgian political history, namely Fox and his scandals and those who later played mammoth roles in the Tory party (including Canning and Castlereagh).
Yet despite its plaudits, the book has its flaws. Primarily, its size: 600 pages in paperback. Unfortunately, Hague is prone to becoming engulfed by the larger political events of the time, taking us into the diplomatic forays as far a field as Russia. Furthermore, the personal experiences of Pitt seem to go neglected in the first period of the wars against Revolutionary France, Hague being heavily reliant on the correspondence between Pitt and his mother which seemingly dried up in this period. Personal flavour is only later resumed with the arrival of Pitt’s niece, Lady Hester Stanhope, into the household, who proceeded to insult the major political players of the day, calling Castlereagh his ‘monotonous Lordship’. By negating Pitt’s personal life in preferment of the great international landscape, the charm the book enjoys in its first hundred pages is lost. Such accusations, then, prevent Hague’s biography from becoming any sort of classic of modern political history.
Hague followed this biography with another on a second William (Wilberforce, of whom Pitt enjoyed a close friendship). Is there to be the William trilogy? My hopes are that he dedicates his time to the influential journalist of the early third of the nineteenth century, William Cobbett.
John Major said of Hague’s work: ‘If you only buy one political biography this year, make it this one’. The question remains as to how many MPs claimed it on expenses?
