The New statesman
The New statesman: portrait of a political weekly, 1913-1931 Adrian Smith
Publisher: London ; F. Cass, 1996.
ISBN: 0714641693
DDC: 52
LCC: PN5130
Edition: (pbk.)
Summary:
This is the first detailed history of how a fledgeling Fabian weekly,
founded in 1913 by Sidney and Beatrice Webb with financial support
from George Bernard Shaw, came to play a key role in the growth of
the modern Labour Party. Placing the early New Statesman in the
context of its eight turbulent decades as the flagship of the left,
the book compares the paper's early journalists with those of later
generations. The first editor, Clifford Sharp, masterminded a
political weekly that by 1920, despite its modest circulation,
enjoyed remarkable influence within Whitehall and at Westminster.
Reflecting the progressive intelligentsia's disenchantment with the
Liberal leadership, especially after the party split in December
1916, the New Statesman had by the end of the First World War become
a forum for forward-thinkers at the centre of Labour's policy-making
machine. Though a talented editor, Sharp was a deeply flawed
character, whose post-war misjudgement, principally his misplaced
loyalty to Asquith, and drunken behaviour led to repeated clashes
with the board. By 1925, the front half of the paper had lost
direction, while the arts pages had lost their early vitality. With
support for Labour no longer guaranteed, a consortium headed by
Ramsay MacDonald sought unsuccessfully to take control. For the rest
of the decade deputy editors Mostyn Lloyd and G. D. H. Cole struggled
to combine academic careers with re-establishing the discredited New
Statesman as the voice of the left. Success was to come only under
the leadership and inspiration of a new editor, Kingsley Martin, and
a new chairman, John Maynard Keynes, following the paper's symbolic
take-over in 1930 of the Liberal weekly, the Nation. By drawing upon
interviews with surviving participants and a wide range of public and
personal papers, the author analyses the development and significance
of Britain's best-known and most resilient magazine of the left.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (P. 327-331) and index.
Language: eng
Physical Description: xvi, 340 p. ; 24 cm.
Edition Info: (pbk.)
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