Herbert Morrison, an autobiography, by Lord Morrison

[p021] Herbert Morrison; an Autobiography, Lord Morrison of Lambeth. Odhams Press, Ltd., 30s. ‘In the Marxist Movement one sometimes has to do unpleasant or even monotonous tasks, the only reward for which is a feeling of satisfaction on completion. Review- ing Herbert Morrison’s biography was an exception. It was unpleasant, monotonous — but completely unre- warding. Apart from a very funny picture showing Morrison walking through a park with a top-hatted and bow-legged Lord, the book is un- relieved drabness from beginning to end. The ‘tradition of The House’ (‘Ramsay MacDonald’s great hind- rance was his inability to revel in the atmosphere of Westminster ’); Churchill (‘his descriptions of the military situation were always a delight’) with his arm _ round Morrison; Ernest Bevin with his arm round Molotov humming ‘ The More we are Together’; more space given to a speech on Proportional Repre- sentation than to the General Strike. Half a Century of History but dimly heard through the thick walls of ‘ The House’ and the musty, closed windows of Council Chambers. It must be almost impossible for a man who has participated in the early days of the Labour Party, two World Wars, the 1926 General Strike, the 1931 crisis, the 1945 election victory, and the struggles in the Labour Party right up 1959, to make the story of his life seem flat and uninteresting. But Morrison manages it. After wading through these 332 pages one _is left with a sense of wonder that a man of such transparent mediocrity should have reached such high positions in Party and State. The author dedicated this book to his second wife, Dimple. One wonders what she did to deserve it. G.G.

[p022] 20 Sign post to the Future