Gray Eminence

The Prof. in Two Worlds. By the Earl of Birkenhead. (Collins, 45s.)

.Axt pleased that I, never sat on a committee

1111 Cherwell. I am delighted that he was never a member of my college. Yet I cannot 'that I am without a sense of regret at never having met him, horrible though the encounter 'y.ould probably have been. After this biography,

Hr Roy Harrod's Memoir and Sir Charles

110w's attack, I still do not comprehend quite , Cherwell convinced so many able men of 1.1's greatness—even men who found his ideas Insufferable and his judgment ludicrous. There n,tust have been something in his personal impact

at no one has yet conveyed. But first this book.

It is very readable. The oddity of Cherwell's quarrel-studded life provides plenty of interest, even for people bored with science and tired of Politics. For the middle-aged it is a good read 4nd a good Christmas buy. It will do for many ,W,Ilat it sets Out to do, persuade them that `-nerwell has been painted blacker than he was, 1,hat he was far-seeing, wise in judgment, relent- less in debate, a man without whom this country would have been much poorer. They will admire tile combination of statesman with scientist. And sno. they will be led away from the gravamen of It Charles Snow's attack, which is in no way "Pugned by showing that he might have been WI.°ng on some questions of emphasis or made s°41e errors of fact.

1. Snow's criticism of Cherwell's role was this. !hat it is extremely dangerous for one scientist, "nd one scientist only, to occupy a position of 4,11thori:y and power in, a government conducted 'Y men without scientific knowledge. What he

pleading for was informed debate between 'dentists and politicians at the highest level of

decision. He took Cherwell's career as an exposi- tion of his theme, and after reading this apologia, for this is what 'official life' means, I doubt whether he could have taken a better one.

Looking at this life with the eye of an historian has given me serious doubts about it. Nowhere is ther- any discussion of the nature, range, and extent of the Cherwell archives to which Lord Birkenhead has been given access. A certain amount of information has been solicited from friends and colleagues, for there are many letters quoted 'to the author.' These are used, however, rather uncritically. Such sources always require careful handling. Men forget, time diminishes heat, memory plays remarkable tricks, and the knowledge of probable publication prompts restraint. Yet Lord Birkenhead rarely subjects such statements to critical examination. And it is interesting to note that Sir Patrick Blackett, whose knowledge of the famous Tizard-Cherwell row must be better than most, is not quoted. except from his published works.

Again, Cherwell's statements are nearly always taken at their face value: hence his support of Watson-Watt, such as it was, is abstracted from its context. It was necessary for him both to support radar experiments and to stress that they were proceeding adequately in order to create room for his own pets—aerial mines and infra- red detection. With the limitations of man-power and resources, the necessity was to concentrate on radar and exclude fatuous red herrings. And this was the burden of Professor A. V. Hill's charges against Cherwell. It is not answered.

The Tizard-Cherwell row will need better documentation, and much more careful and dispassionate analysis than it gets here. Obvi- ously the situation was not a simple one. Cherwell was an exceptionally clever man, not without a capacity to secure loyalty in subor- dinates and pupils, and he realised that he needed allies in his fight against Tizard. Still, we should be grateful to Lord Birkenhead, advocate though he is, for he has sharpened the focus. This is a clearer picture of his titanic row than we had before, even though it is taken rigidly from Cherwell's angle. Some day there will be a splendid nionograph on this theme, The bombing policy, the squabbles with Christ Church, the struggle over the atomic energy project, all get similar treatment. The prosecu- tion is allowed to make its bow but not to plead its case. And the same is true of Cherwell's character. Some faults are admitted, others like his snobbery, anti-Semitism, and prejudice against colour brushed aside. No, Cherwell was not a snob, writes Lord Birkenhead, and then quotes this from a letter of Cherwell after a weekend visit to Blenheim: The Blenheim dinner and dance was most amusing. They had got H. G. Wells of all people, and the Duchess made him dance, a most comic business. He is very second-rate

as regards brains and Was told off well by

Fitzwilliam who is not considered clever at all.

The Spanish ambassador was there and

numerous weird people like Jimmy Rothschild.

That letter is curiously offensive: like, one gathers. a great deal of Cherwell's conversation, malicious. uncharitable and destructive. Cour- teous he may have been, and socially correct, but the manners of his heart were repulsive. Yet all who met him, friend or foe, felt that he had greatness or the potentiality for it. Probably it sprang from his absolute yet cold dedication to his own ideas and principles, a dedication which ignored opposition, friendship, loyalty and ill-health. Men find such characters hard to resist.