An engrossing, if tediously detailed, biography of William Maxwell Aitken (lst Baron Beaverbrook), the Canadian adventurer who gained fame as a British press-lord, politico, and socialite. While Chisholm (Nancy Cunard, 1979, etc.) and Davie (Titanic, 1987) dish out much revealing dirt, they seem less interested in the larger meaning of Beaverbrook's life than in its minutiae. Drawing on untapped archival sources and scores of interviews, the husband/wife team offers an unsparing portrait of a man on the make. The son of a Presbyterian minister, young Aitken amassed a fortune in the securities business before leaving Canada for England (under a cloud of financial scandal) at age 31 in 1910. Elected to Parliament that same year, he became a power in the Bonar Law and Lloyd George governments and was elevated to the peerage in 1917. After WW I, Beaverbrook plunged into journalism, making the Daily Express and Evening Standard into profitable platforms for his strongly held views (conservative, imperialistic, isolationist). An energetic charmer, the twice-wed Beaverbrook was a world-class philanderer whose many prominent mistresses included Diana Cooper, Dorothy Schiff (then Hall), Rebecca West, et al. Beaverbrook was on close terms with a host of male notables as well, from Winston Churchill (in whose cabinet he served during WW II) through Rudyard Kipling, A.J.P. Taylor, and Evelyn Waugh. The press baron also made some first-rate enemies—e.g., the Astor family and Louis Mountbatten. After the war, Beaverbrook tended to his newspapers, wrote several books, and attempted to become a patron of the arts. He died at age 85 in 1964, widely if warily respected. The authors quote copiously from even the most trivial Beaverbrook correspondence—yet fail to focus properly upon the significance of their subject's actions in the context of his times. These cavils apart: a comprehensive rundown on one of the fourth estate's more consequential figures. (Thirty-two pages of photographs—not seen.)
Pub Date: Jan. 8, 1993
ISBN: 0-394-56879-6
Page Count: 592
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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