Denis Healey

Format:	Hardback 634 pages

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Synopsis

Denis Healey is one of the most important politicians of the late 20th century. If he missed the party leadership and premiership, he was an abler figure than many who have held both. In office, Healey spent six years struggling with defence costs. As Chancellor, 1974-79, he met Britain's second greatest financial crisis of the century, faced a crashing currency and a visitation of the IMF and brought us through with currency strengthened and crisis seen off. Inside the Labour Party, he fought Tony Benn a struggle, nominally for the deputy leadership, actually for the party's survival as a national force. By a sub-fraction he won and Labour survived. Edward Pearce argues in this biography that Healey, a man of intellect and great culture, retains the qualities of the soldier he once was: loyalty and bravery, and the ability to face crisis with courage, stamina and humour.

Book details

Published
04/04/2002

Publisher
Little, Brown & Company

ISBN
9780316858946

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UK Kirkus review

This weighty volume on the life and times of Labour politician Denis Healey (most famous for being Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979) is written to be taken seriously: 'This is a political life. Trufflers after scandal will be miserably disappointed.' In over 600 pages seemingly every detail of Healey's career in politics, no matter how important or unimportant, is recorded and analysed. The depth of research done by Pearce - himself twice a Labour candidate and a friend of Healey for over 20 years - is remarkable and impressive, and his coverage is all-encompassing. He has immense enthusiasm for his subject and it is this enthusiasm which provides the much-needed pace and grip of the book. But even die-hard political followers might get literary indigestion from the sheer amount of detail, and although Pearce gets to grips with Healey's political mind and the progression of his career very successfully, we are left tantalisingly adrift much of the time about what made Healey tick as a person - something that is inextricably entangled with his political views and actions. This is an excellent account of British politics and the Labour party in the third quarter of the 20th century, and anyone interested in these subjects or Healey himself will learn a great deal. But the casual reader might be best advised to look elsewhere. (Kirkus UK)