Conservative Revolutionary: The Lives of Lewis Namier

Acclaimed in the decade after the Second World War as Englands greatest historian, Sir Lewis Namiers revolutionary approach gave a new word to the English language: to Namierise. An eastern European immigrant who came to idealise the English gentleman, today Namier is not only associated with a particular historical technique, but also with a way of understanding the world: a belief that the things that matter in society are the thoughts and actions of elites rather than the views of the population at large, and a view of politics in which issues are essentially unimportant, principles are a cloak for self-interest, and all who enter public life do so in pursuit of personal and material advantage. This exaggerated view has attained such a broad acceptance as to make him a hero to social and political conservatives, and a demonic figure to those on the left. Preoccupied by nationalism, empire, and human motivation, Namier also remains a point of reference in academic circles as the man who supposedly declared that in political discourse any reliance upon ideas was nothing more than flapdoodle. The first book to integrate all aspects of Namiers life and writings, this biography is based on a vast range of documentary sources, including entirely new archival material. A key figure in the Zionist movement, Namier played a significant part in public affairs and held a role in the Foreign Office in the First World War, and enjoyed close friendship with leading figures of his day, including Winston Churchill.