Anthony Eden

ANTHONY EDEN A BIOGRAPHY by ALAN CAMPBELL JOHNSON. CONTENTS: CHAPTER PAGE. PREFACE 9I. OTHER EDENS 13II. FROM WlNDLESTONE TO WAR 30III. M.C., B.A., M.P. 39IV. MAIDEN SPEECHES 50V. REDLETTER DAYS 67VI. PLACES IN THE SUN 85VII. LOCARNO LIMITED 107VIII. AIDE TO SIR AUSTEN 126IX. THE c MARTYRDOM OF CECIL 143X. DEBTS AND SETTLEMENTS 157XI. EXPERIMENTS IN OPPOSITION 177XII. NATIONAL MINISTRIES 201XIII. PROGRESS IN LOST CAUSES 220XIV. LORD PRIVY SEAL AT LARGE 236XV. MURDER IN MARSEILLES 251XVI. GRAND TOURS 268XVII. ABYSSINIATEST CASE 288XVIII. WATCH ON THE RHINE 305XIX. PLATFORM SANCTIONS 321XX. NYON AND BEYOND 337XXL Now OR NEVER 358 INDEX 377 ILLUSTRATIONS ANTHONY EDEN FrontispieceFACING PAGEDIVIDED COUNSELLORS 32WEDDING AT ST. MARGARETS 48THE NEW DIPLOMACY 64IN THE KREMLIN 80COLLECTIVE SECURITY 96THE WARSAW TALKS 128STUDY IN SANCTIONS 160BURDEN OF OFFICE 192DIRECT NEGOTIATIONS 208TRIUMVIRS IN DOWNING STREET 224OFF DUTY 240SIMON AND EDEN 256GRAND TOUR 272,MORNING CONSTITUTIONAL 352THE WORLD is UPSIDE DOWN 368. PREFACE: To WRITE the biography of a living man is to invite ridicule and even obloquy, but for attempting to summarize andinterpret some of the principal facts and factors in the first fortythree years of Anthony Edens career there is perhapsmore than the customary excuse. The astonishing thing isthat although by early middle age his name is a householdword, the story of how he stormed the heights of worldrenown is almost entirely unknown. It is tucked away inthe endless columns of Hansard and the dusty files of localnewspapers.Anthony Eden arrived on the world scene with the emergence of the National Government. He has beenthere ever since, but of his antecedents no questions were asked. The public did not demand a reference. Instead,finding him politically sincere, physically attractive and socially beyond reproach, it conferred on him a testimonialfrom its own immediate impressions. Whereas AdolfHitler, Benito Mussolini, and Joseph Stalin have had touse all the resources of their respective states to build uplegends about themselves, the legend of Anthony Eden is athing at once as simple and mysterious as a classic fairy story.But Edens period of power already belongs to history.Alternative forces and fresh facts have already swept awaymuch of his work. Yet he symbolizes still an aspiration ininternational government and method which the peoples ofGreat Britain and the world at large cannot finally avoid.He is still the greatest threat to the forces of reaction inthis country. And the signs are that the remaining years ofAnthony Edens allotted span will see the causes he championed taken up with renewed zeal. This book has beenwritten under the shadow of recurring crises, culminatingin the reprieve of Munich. Spokesmen of all parties andpersuasions are agreed that the four statesmen who met atthe Fiihrerhaus had behind them the compelling authorityof their respective peoples to find a formula ot peace. The allegiance of Europe could not be guaranteed for war.