Margot at War: Love and Betrayal in Downing Street, 1912-1916

by Anne de Courcy

Margot Asquith was perhaps the most daring and unconventional Prime Minister's wife in British history. Known for her wit, style and habit of speaking her mind, she transformed 10 Downing Street into a glittering social and intellectual salon. Yet her last five years at Number 10 were a period of intense emotional and political turmoil in her private and public life.

In 1912, when Anne de Courcy's book opens, rumblings of discontent and cries for social reform were encroaching on all sides - from suffragettes, striking workers and Irish nationalists. Against this background of a government beset with troubles, the Prime Minister fell desperately in love with his daughter's best friend, Venetia Stanley; to complicate matters, so did his Private Secretary. Margot's relationship with her husband was already bedevilled by her stepdaughter's jealous, almost incestuous adoration of her father. The outbreak of the First World War only heightened these swirling tensions within Downing Street.

Drawing on unpublished material from personal papers and diaries, Anne de Courcy vividly recreates this extraordinary time when the Prime Minister's residence was run like an English country house, with socialising taking precedence over politics, love letters written in the cabinet room and gossip and state secrets exchanged over the bridge table.

By 1916, when Asquith was forced out of office, everything had changed. For the country as a whole, for those in power, for a whole stratum of society, but especially for the Asquiths and their circle, it was the end of an era. Life inside Downing Street would never be the same again.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Audiobook, World War I, British Literature, Womens

376 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2014

About the author

Born in 1927, Anne de Courcy is a well-known writer, journalist and book reviewer. In the 1970s she was Woman’s Editor on the London Evening News until its demise in 1980, when she joined the Evening Standard as a columnist and feature-writer. In 1982 she joined the Daily Mail as a feature writer, with a special interest in historical subjects, leaving in 2003 to concentrate on books, on which she has talked widely both here and in the United States.

A critically-acclaimed and best-selling author, she believes that as well as telling the story of its subject’s life, a biography should depict the social history of the period, since so much of action and behaviour is governed not simply by obvious financial, social and physical conditions but also by underlying, often unspoken, contemporary attitudes, assumptions, standards and moral codes.

Anne is on the committee of the Biographers’ Club; and a past judge of their annual Prize. Her recent biographies, all of which have been serialised, include THE VICEROY’S DAUGHTERS, DIANA MOSLEY and DEBS AT WAR and SNOWDON; THE BIOGRAPHY, written with the agreement and co-operation of the Earl of Snowdon. Based on Anne’s book, a Channel 4 documentary “Snowdon and Margaret: Inside a Royal Marriage”, was broadcast.

Anne was a judge for the recent Biography section of the Costa Award in 2013, and is also one of the judges on the final selection panel judging the best of all the genres.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have long loved Anne de Courcy’s books, so I was delighted to have a chance to review this, her latest; a look at the life of Margot Asquith during the years leading up to, and during, the first world war. Margot began life as ‘the fabulous Miss Tennant’ – a founding member of the Souls, who valued intelligence, art, music and literature. She did not come from the tight, exclusive little world of the aristocracy. Instead, her great-grandfather was a Glasgow chemist who made a fortune and she finally had the opportunity to be successful in Society after she was introduced to the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII) at Ascot and impressed him enough to be considered worthy of being invited into the elite.

Margot was twenty seven when she met the thirty nine year old Asquith at a dinner party in 1891. He was then a married man with five children and Home Secretary. When his wife, Helen, died of typhoid, he began to chase her and the match was largely frowned upon. Margot seemed too young, frivolous and inexperienced to cope with the responsibility of his children. Despite reservations, she seemed to be a caring step-mother and had five babies herself – sadly, only two lived. The danger of another pregnancy seemed to close the bedroom door between Margot and her husband and this caused problems in her marriage. For Asquith seemed a man whose behaviour with younger women was often considered inappropriate and whose desire for female company was regularly gossiped about. During this book we read of him, ‘pouncing’ on young women, peering down their dresses and it seems to be common knowledge that young, inexperienced women should not be left alone with him. However, he also seems to have inspired a lot of love and jealousy amongst the women in his life and the central relationship that this book is about caused Margot Asquith terrible unhappiness and bitter jealousy. For Asquith became besotted with Venetia Stanley, the best friend of his daughter, Violet, who was also cloyingly obsessive and physically close to her father, to the point of utter hero worship.

During this book, we follow the lives of Margot and her family from 1912 through to 1916. We begin in a golden Edwardian summer, when Margot has been married for seventeen years. Margot is frank, open and unconventional and desperately jealous for her husband’s attention. At this time, her main complaint seems to be with his daughter, Violet, who monopolises him and never leaves him alone. The political concerns are with unrest and strikes, Home Rule in Ireland and the Suffragettes, who both Asquith and Margot are extremely unsympathetic towards. Gradually, government by the people begins the decline of the old order, when the aristocracy ruled the country. The school leaving age had been raised, the population were more literate, and better transport links meant people would rather work in factories, offices or shops than in service.

So blinded by concerns at home were the British, that virtually nobody saw the approaching war coming and many were caught off guard by the coming conflict. War was, for most of the population, a distant thing which took place in far off lands and many thought the war would be over by Christmas. Indeed, so eager were many young men not to miss out on the action that they clambered to enlist as quickly as possible and head off to the front. Meanwhile, it is fair to say that Asquith’s attention was not as focused as it should have been to the important matters of politics. By 1912 his focus on Venetia had been noticed by Margot – by the beginning of the war he was writing to her constantly; often several times a day. His letters were indiscreet, obsessive and demanding.

Anne de Courcy paints a very evocative portrait not only of an era, but of the personalities behind the politics of the day. It is fair to say that Downing Street was not only dealing with matters of war, but with an internal struggle between the wife of the Prime Minister and both his daughter and her best friend. Did daughter Violet know about Venetia’s growing closeness to her father? If so, did she encourage it to spite her step-mother? Meanwhile, Margot was pouring out her fears to family friend Edwin Montagu, a man who was also desperately in love with Venetia. It was a power struggle to rival the later political betrayals that Asquith faced from Lloyd George. It seems almost unbelievable that Asquith would answer love letters during war meetings or that neither Venetia or Asquith felt any guilt about Margot’s feelings. Yet, as the war rolled on and the death lists seemed never-ending – as just about every single family seemed to have lost someone – Asquith seemed unable to tear himself away from an obsession with a girl the same age as his daughter.

I found this book almost impossible to put down. I was enthralled with the portrait the author painted of Margot Asquith and was fascinated to find out – at the end of the book – what happened to all the major characters. This is a book which will interest anyone who enjoys intelligent, well written historical biographies. It is a story of war, of love, marriage and a society who watched, and commented, as the Prime Minister’s behaviour came under scrutiny. One of the best books I have read this year and a great addition to the author’s work so far. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

[Sylvia Tedesco · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was sent to me by a dear friend. I sort of signed on for the gossip but found that Anne De Courcy does a beautiful job of making the human side of World War I in the British government come to life. All sorts of little touches show here, a tiny one: a minister rushing in with news so urgent that he forgot to put on his hat! The lifestyles and mores of 1914 and up and all on display and make the story so interesting! I'm not so sure Winston Churchill fares well in his portrait.

[Christina McLain · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story of the rather strange and wonderful Asquith family. The paterfamilias, HH, as he was commonly known,was prime minister of Great Britain during the first half of WWI, a conflict Britain more or less fell into, and couldn't extricate itself from, for four bloody and abysmal years. This was a period which saw astounding social change and at least two revolutions, not to mention the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the abdication of the Kaiser and the slaughter of the Czar and his family. Asquith deplored the idea of votes for women but was in thrall to his daughter's best friend Venetia Stanley, with whom he corresponded several times a day,often describing military secrets and political intrigues. He was a man brilliant at compartmentalization; he could work hard for most of the day, then drop everything to drink,socialize and play bridge,usually with comely much younger women ,until late in the evening. Though a prodigious drinker nicknamed "Squiffy"for his love of alcohol, he apparently read for two hours every night before sleeping. His wife Margot was ascerbic,outspoken, loyal to a fault and very generous. Her stepdaughter Violet adored both Rupert Brooke and Winston Churchill, but never really stopped being a daddy's girl and drove her stepmother Margot crazy. His eldest son Raymond perished in the war and his second son Beb,suffered terribly from shellshock and was unable to work for most of his postwar life. This fascinating but dysfunctional group lived lavishly,mostly because Margot had money, but suffered because of the demands put on them and because of their conflicting loyalties and passions. I found the book to be very interesting but it is a history buff's book: no Hallmark stuff here. And no Hollywood endings either. HH died in 1927 after returning from a rendezvous with Venetia and Margot died more than 20 years later, heartbroken by the death of her beloved daughter Elizabeth who had been stuck in Nazi occupied Europe for the duration of WWII. Her son Puffin became a film director. They really don't make em like they used to,or so it seems.

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating social history of Britain's transition from the Edwardian era to the First World War in the early 20th century with a focus on the Asquith family. Anne de Courcy incorporates a wealth of notable details that show how ordinary people experienced the outbreak of war and the changes that came with mass mobilization. There is a strong emphasis on the controversies that accompanied the changing role of women in wartime and the scrutiny of the Prime Minister's wife, Margot Asquith. The leisurely social life and cosmopolitan cultural life of the Asquith family followed Edwardian patterns and seemed out of place in wartime, which undermined the family's popularity. An interesting read about a turbulent period in British history.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully rich book, providing insights into various events that were going on during the start of the 20th century. Some of the main areas include....

* The story of the brilliantly clever Herbert Henry Asquith, Prime Minister between 1908 and 1915 - and his little harem. (His wife Margo, his daughter Violet, and his "erotic obsession" - with his daughter's best friend, Venetia Stanley, who was 35 years younger than him.)

*The changing relationship between people living a luxurious Edwardian upper class life and the rising working classes.

* The Suffragettes

* The total ignorance in the UK about the warring ambitions of Kaiser Wilhelm II, King of Prussia and Emperor of Germany.

* The First World War

*The Sinking of the Lusitania.

* The social history of ordinary people left to run the country during the war.

* Life in the Houses of Parliament, both in terms of landmark Acts that were passed during this time, and the shenanigans and reshuffling of various members of parliament.

* The increasing importance of the press.

I can't begin to to justice to breadth of this book, but I can say that it's hugely readable. If you are someone who doesn't often read about war or politics (ie like me), this is a wonderful book for broadening your horizons a bit. The main emphasis of the book is with Herbert Asquith, and the women closest to him, but I also felt that I really got a flavour of what life was like during this period, for the aristocracy, for ordinary people - and for soldiers fighting abroad.

As usual I shall end with a few notes for myself

ACTS OF PARLIAMENT:
(Outstanding Acts passed in the House of Commons)

The Old Age Pensions Act 1906 : Largely pushed through by Lloyd George, but under the leadership of Herbert Asquith. This meant that people over 70 were given five shillings a week if they had lead good working lives.

A War Budget Against Poverty / The Finance Bill 1909 : This got through The House of Commons, but was stopped by the House of Lords, who at this time had the capacity to do this.)

The Parliament Bill 1911: This was a Bill to curb the power of The House of Lords, where members are not elected by the public, but via hereditary titles or honours given by the King. Herbert Asquith asked the King to create 300 Liberal peers for The House of Lords, so that the Bill would be passed (most of the members of the House of Lords were Conservatives, not keen on relinquishing their power.) Asquith also called a general election. He, Lloyd George and Churchill all said they wouldn't hold office in a government when the Peers in the House of Lords could overrule the people. In the end it was fine. The King had agreed begrudgingly to create all those Liberal peers, but it proved unnecessary. The Bill went through the House of Lords all right. The results of the election was a hung parliament - and Asquith had to form a coalition with the 82 Irish Nationalist members of parliament.

The National Insurance Act 1911: For 4 pence a week wage earners could insure themselves against sickness. This was the beginning the the NHS. The British Medical Association was horrified, the incoming president, James Barr, said it was a gigantic fraud, and compared it to the South Sea Bubble, adding that what the country really needed was a plan for eugenics.

BOMBING & RECONNAISSANCE DURING THE WAR,

This was initially done by the Germans, using Zeppelins, but later planes were used and the UK started flying too. Pilots on both sides were seen as knights of the air. There were many casualties, both in going on forays and during training.

ENLISTING:

At the beginning people were incredibly enthusiastic about signing up. National feeling was running high. They were seemingly completely ignorant of the harsh realities of what would be involved. An Act introducing conscription was passed in 1916.

LUSITANIA: THE SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA.

The RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner that was sunk by a German U-boat during World War I on May 7, 1915. The sinking, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 1,200 people, including 128 Americans, caused international outrage and contributed to shifting public opinion against Germany. Two years later The US entered the war.

POISON GAS:

On 22 April 1915, in defiance of the Hague Convention which outlawed chemical warfare - the German Army released 168 tons of chlorine gas over a 4 mile front. Within 10 minutes it had killed 6000 of the men facing it, with asphyxiation and lung damage.

Fortunately, a way of combating the gas was found, and people were issued with gas masks.

SUFFRAGETTES:

Unlike most of the Liberal Party, Herbert and Margot Asquith, and their daughter Violet. were all strongly against the Suffragettes and women getting the vote. The author suggests this might have had something to do with these women's unmitigated adoration of Herbert, seemingly the source of endless wisdom.

Suffragette protests stopped during the First World War, but the book gives details of some of their activities in the years leading up to it.

* The Suffragettes went on hunger strikes in prison and were force fed. Later something known as the "cat and mouse" system was introduced, whereby instead of force feeding, when they lost a lot of weight they'd be sent to stay with some friends for a week or two, until they had put on a bit of weight, and then they had to come back to prison. This would be repeated as necessary. It wasn't a great system as these women sometimes escaped.
* Rocks were thrown through the windows at 10 Downing Street.
* Women climbed onto the running board of Herbert Asquith's car, threw two pints of pepper inside, and beat him around the head with a whip.
* They also went onto a golf course where he was playing, and tried to rip his clothes off.
* They had a tactic of pouring a mix of acid, ink, tar and lamp black into post boxes. In Newcastle alone 2,000 letters were destroyed or damaged. It looked like the suffragettes were just posting a letter when they did this, so no-one was caught.
* They put dye in reservoirs.
* They fire-bombed empty buildings. in seven months 107 buildings were set on fire.
* They damaged a Velásquez painting in the National Gallery with a meat chopper.
* Emily Davidson famously threw herself in front of the King's horse at The 1013 Derby, and died as a result.

[Lisa of Hopewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Interest

Name a British Edwardian of high rank and I probably am interested in them. Margot Asquith, wife of the Prime Minister, H.H. Asquith, and step-mother to Violet (Asquith) Bonham-Carter, the overthrown love of Winston Churchill and future Grandmother of actress Helena Bonham-Carter. Add in Anne de Courcy, as author and you have a must-read for me. Sadly, it languished on my shelf. Looking for an audio for this past week’s commute, I found it on Hoopla through my library.


The Story

Margot Tennant met Herbert Asquith at a dinner party (Cue Downton Abbey’s Lady Mary in season one asking “How many times must I marry the man I sit next to at dinner?” and mother, Cora replying, “As many times as it takes.”) He was widowed, with young children. She was free-spirit with a group of friends who came to be known as “The Souls.” He, by comparison, was a rube, but a powerful one. She waffled about marrying him, partly due to his daughter, Violet, who since her mother’s death had had her bed in her father’s room and was his main confidant in spite of being young enough to require a nanny’s care. Her other hesitations were two former loves–both “Souls.” Eventually the married and like, another much younger Prime Minister’s wife who also sat next to her future husband at a dinner party (Clarissa Churchill Eden) she began doing the wifely behind-the-scenes work of a politicians career: sucking up, entertaining, letter writing, spinning, and schmoozing. In spite of her reservations, she came to adore her husband. Sadly, daughter Violet almost never left them alone.

Free-spirited to the core, Margot even insisted on calling her husband by his middle name, “Henry,” since she did not like “Herbert.” His first wife had based their lives in the family home, outside the world of society (“She lives in Hampstead and has no clothes” was how Margot explained HH’s former life), Once properly introduced into real London society, HH took off–and in many ways, left Margot behind. Thanks again to daughter Violet, he went on to fall in love with her bestie, Venetia Stanley, a move that nearly destroyed Margot. In spite of this, and in spite of spending about as much time alone with their own children as Charles and Diana spent together before marriage, the couple had their times of happiness. Margot thrived on politics and loved being involved in the gamesmanship of it. They also had great sadness of another kind: Like another later aristocrat of much renown (Debo Mitford aka Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire) Margot had a horrible time losing 3 out of her 5 children. It was the life-threatening effects of another pregnancy and the doctor’s order of “no more [fun]” that spurred HH to “pounce” on Venetia. (Today HH would be looked at the way the Left looks at Trump with women}.

I came to all but loathe HH, but I could also see why Margot adored him. The power, the position, the charm, the deepness with which he fell in love, his sense of romance–used for good or bad they were all attractive points. I also felt sorry for Margot and the legions of other women whose life depending on an empty side of the bed at night. Women, as was told in the book, were seen as fraught and emotionally unbalanced. Well, ya think? [Fun at night] is an important part of physical and mental health. How pathetic that though both were needed to cause a life-threatening pregnancy, only the one spouse was expected to remain celibate? Margot, who could go a bit overboard in things, realized, big-heartedly, that HH being under such stress in 10 Downing needed that blessed release. As she was also under a mountain of stress, I’m sure it would have helped her outlook too! In her diary, quoted in the book, she remembers “what fun” they had had in bed together. How she kept from killing step-daughter Violet, I’ll never understand. I’m afraid HH and I would have had a very “fraught and unbalanced” come to Jesus meeting over that little minx very soon after marriage–if not before! Boundaries much, H?


My Thoughts

Anne de Courcy is one of my favorite social historians. She nails it every time. I also have Margot’s diaries and so plan to skim them a little this weekend for added insight and fun of another kind.
My Verdict

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a testament to the importance of birth control measures that many of us now take for granted. Margot Asquith was a capable person whose fortune supported the family and many other people. Her marriage—which started off well and produced two children who lived to adulthood—ended up making her miserable. Her husband, H.H. Asquith, was a brilliant person whose ability to be a great PM was compromised by his rigid adherence to a robust social and private life that included overimbibing, skirt chasing, and utter absorption in his pleasure at the dinner and card tables. Much of the book centers on the tale of how the PM’s weird obsession with his daughter, insane infatuation with her best friend, and obliviousness to the political tea leaves made his wife’s life hell. The presumably major source of this hell was that Margot’s several ill-fated pregnancies made it medically necessary that she never become pregnant again. The marriage went downhill when the bedroom door closed, which at the time was the only way to make sure their would be no more pregnancies. As is true with other de Courcy books, the subject and information presented are enticing; the book's quality is, however, marred by the author's failure to provide seamless integration of the biographical and historical facts.

[Susan Lanigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I don't give this 5 stars it's not because the writing isn't vivid, it's more that while the history is wonderful stuff, Margot Asquith herself is not a particularly interesting person and the biographer's attempts to make her so don't particularly work. But I was enthralled by the politics of the period, what with proroguing Parliament to bring the House of Lords to its knees, suffragettes beating PM Asquith around the head with whips, and Ireland, Ireland, Ireland...the war bursts in as almost an afterthought and you can see how Asquith had a lot to handle and deal with and read some of his thought processes while doing so. This doesn't prevent him from coming across as a bit of an eejit who lacked the ability or inclination to *read the room*. And his letters to Venetia Stanley, his daughter's best friend with whom he falls in love, are cringing and reproduced rather too often. Margot predictably weeps and wails until Venetia puts her out of her misery by marrying Asquith's secretary Edwin Montagu and both Herbie and his loathsome daughter Violet squeal paeans of antisemitism in response (Montagu was Jewish)

Summary: Awful people, but could not put it down. Recommended!

[Yooperprof · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea that Anne de Courcy was so old! She was 18 years old when Margot Asquith died, so she could have met her as a girl.

I believe that de Courcy was 87 when she published this book - that is inspirational. It also inclines me to be somewhat more "forgiving" of what I see as a lack of focus and an occasional tendency to go off on tangents.

Although the book is called “Margot at War,” it takes until Chapter 15 – and page 169 of a 355 page book – to get to the war. And there's a lot of material in this book that does not really pertain to the Asquith menage. As if de Courcy had originally planned a separate book on the social world of early 20th Century London, and decided at a later stage to combine it with another work on the affairs of the wartime Prime Minister.

Incidentally, it is clear that while de Courcy has great personal respect for Asquith and Margot, she is persuasive that by late 1916 it was past time for him to step down and pass the leadership to a younger and more energetic leader.

Venetia Stanley comes across as the least sympathetic figure in the drama.

[Katharine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating portrait of the Asquith family during the years that Asquith was Prime Minister. The main focus is his second wife Margot and her life just before and during World War I but perhaps the most interesting parts of the book deal with Asquith and his devotion to his daughter's best friend Venetia Stanley. The author does an excellent job of portraying the Asquiths against the background of the rest of British society as it faced up to the coming of war and the social changes it brought. A very enjoyable read.

[Kipi (the academic stitcher) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 8 for Women's History Month

H.H. Asquith was Prime Minister of the UK at the outbreak of World War 1. He was 59, and his mistress (his youngest daughter's close friend) was 25. In all I've read about WW1, his strangely close relationship with Venetia Stanley is well documented, but stumbling across this book was the first time I had even heard his wife's name. Margot Tennant Asquith deserves at least as much attention as Venetia.

[Margaret Conmey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating book
Other than knowing that Asquith was Prime Minister I knew nothing about him
I would have liked more about Margot’s life
Such and strong and capable women
Amazed about the amount of abuse she received from the press and the lies told about her - although social media did not exist to spread the lies/ libels , it shows that human beings don’t change

[Helen Carolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dreadfully disappointed with this one. Ms DE Courcy's unbiased liking for her subject put me right off. I didn't like Margot myself and found it hard to have any sympathy for her when her husband embarked on an affair with his daughters best friend. Not one of the best books I've ever read.

[Russell James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb BIOGRAPHY. "Margot at War" is an affectionate and very informing account, mainly on the years 1912-16 (leading up to and in WW1) giving a strong sense of those times, in both private and public life, as she watches but can't affect her husband's political and sexual struggles.

[linda brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Margot

Very interesting lady
She paid for not only her and her husbands life styles but for all her stepchildren and her own children
She was very outspoken and probably got her into alot of spates

[Juliet Prowse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't find this a particularly easy book to read. While I like history books, it was possibly the amount of research or number of people/facts to keep track of. In a way, I struggled through it and while the book cover says "a plot that Downton Abbey would die for", it's wasn't quite

[Stephen Tubbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Home Rule, Suffragettes, and the Great War dominate the narrative so it is always interesting. The only criticism is that too much space is provided for Asquith's pathetic love letters.

[Pip Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most interesting book, well written, easy to read and completely fascinating.
Great background to WW1 & Irish Home Rule.

[Carol Brennan]

Gripping tale of a little-known WWI prime minister/Liberal Party government. Margot Asquith deserves a biopic!

[Jacqueline · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting glimpse into the life of the upper class during the Great War. I really found myself not liking this person, Margot. I was glad to get to the end of this book.

[Sarah Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really interesting insight into the political and social backdrop of British society in the run up to the Great War.

[Rae]

First World War. Politics. Marriage relationships. Aristocracy. Fascinating.

[Mary Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

niche read...very specific but fascinating reflection on the the time period, a social, cultural history-a discussion for the WWI study.

[Peter Kalnin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shenanigans at the Highest Levels of the British Government

It was an age of manners, reputations and... shenanigans. I am reading this as a companion to Robert Harris' Precipice and it makes for rather interesting lenses for examining the pre-war period of WWI.

Corrie James does a fine job of narrating this book.

I recommend this book for its keen insights.

[GrabAsia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a story, and how wonderfully written. Congratulations to Ms de Courcy. Besides the love triangle itself, a great evocation of the Edwardian Britain & high society, that ended with the First World War. The lost world of letter writing, society lunches, dinners & the long weekend (followed by Mr Asquith even as PM during the war), and, the still existing world of Downing Street politics, it's all here.

[Pierke Bosschieter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written biography about the life of Margot Asquith during the Great War. It was the enthusiasm of the author for her subject and the historical background that she described so well, that kept me reading and engaged till the end. But alas, I couldn’t find much love or sympathy for both Margot and Asquith.

[Jill Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This year, 2014, is the centennial of the start of World War I. Many books have been written about the war and the years before and after. The best books seem to be ones which center on an event or a person involved in the war. British author, Anne de Courcy, has written an excellent book, "Margot at War: Love and Betrayal in Downing Street, 1912-1916", about Prime Minister Henry Asquith and his wife, Margot.

The title, "Margot at War" seems able to be construed two different ways. "War", of course, can allude to the World War I and the attendant matters of those years, BUT, it can also allude to an on-going battle Margot waged against her step-daughter, Violet, and Violet's best friend, Venetia Stanley, for Henry's affections.

Margot Tennant was Henry Asquith's second wife. He was her first husband. They married after the death of his first wife, with whom he had four sons and one daughter, Violet. With Margot, Asquith had two children who lived past birth. Margot was known for her wit and intelligence and she married Henry Asquith for love. Unfortunately, after the birth of her last child, she was advised by her doctors not to have more children. She broke off marital relations with her husband, but remained devoted to him.

Anne de Courcy does an excellent job in expanding her book past the affairs of the heart. Henry Asquith's pre-WW1 years in office were not placid ones. The questions of Irish Home Rule, the Suffragette movement, the changing economic society, as well as the on-going diplomatic questions as Germany and Great Britain jockeyed for power, were all problems to be dealt with. Deal with them he did, as he also fell madly in love with Venetia Stanley. But was he "in love with Venetia" or "in love with being 'in love'"?

Was Henry Asquith having a physical affair with Venetia Stanley? He was 60 and she was in her mid-20's. He was England's Prime Minister and she was an unmarried society darling. Author de Courcy doesn't answer the question; maybe it can't be answered. Certainly Asquith was in love with Venetia. He wrote her love letters every day, often while in government sessions. His aides and others he worked with often noted his paying more attention to Venetia than his duties of state allowed. The war was going badly, government and military scandals abounded, and the Prime Minister was writing copious numbers of love letters, often containing government secrets. By the end of 1916, Asquith was forced from office. By that time, Venetia Stanley had married another man. Henry Asquith and Margot retired together. One of his four sons from his first marriage had been killed in battle, just one of the millions on both sides killed in a senseless war.

Anne de Courcy's book is an excellent look at affairs of state and affairs of the heart. There's much more on the affairs of state, but love - whether requited or not - is part of the picture.

[Geraldine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was an outstanding book, almost incomparable. I added it to my TBR having read an enticing review and promptly forgot the reason I added it. This is a good thing, because I'm not storing unnecessary information in my head. I choose my 'next read' randomly, in order to avoid an unconscious bias in selection.

When the time came to read this I did ask myself, did I really want or need to read a biography of a rather privileged woman whose main claim to fame was being married to a Prime Minister, rather than concentrating on biographies of people who actually achieved something.

But actually, the life of Margot Asquith is merely a pivot or can-opener, something that provides access to a splendid history of British Political History in the period leading up to and during the First World War.

It's a very clever book. Too often, you read, or attempt to read, books that are badly written

(although well researched) but you just give up in frustration. I found the 'Betrayal' part of the book a bit of a sideshow but also fascinating. Basically, it was about Asquith's romantic relationship with Venetia Stanley. But more importantly, it was his betrayal of his wife. So I didn't have any sympathy for him, and, actually, held him in even greater contempt.

It actually surprised me how little I have actually read about Asquith. One of the most important Prime Ministers in history, for better and for worse. On the one hand, the People's Budget and the Parliament Act. On the other hand, suffrage. Oh, and the minor matter of the First World War.

It's quite astounding to realise how laid back and indolent he was. I know it was a different time, and I grew up under workaholic Thatcher, but this man was more interested in playing bridge than being Prime Minister, not really awfully bothered about the war - until his own son was killed.

But as I suggested at the beginning that this book wasn't really about Margot or HH, but is a fascinating read of British political history, one of the best I have read, and for that I would recommend it widely.

[Nick Pengelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant, brilliant book, beautifully written, that sucks you in on page one and doesn't let you go to till the last page of the epilogue (and then not with a dry eye). What an incredible story! Downing Street during World War One was the scene of not one, but several love triangles involving two Prime Ministers, their wives, mistresses (or would be mistresses) and assorted besotted family members. I write fiction - some of it has involved British prime ministers - but anything I could imagine would pale next to the reality of what happened in those fateful years. The Beeb would do well to consider this book as the basis for a television series - it would leave Downton Abbey in the dust!

[Jan Duthie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just read Clementine Churchill First Lady
I was interested in following up with a look into the Asquiths' life and found this book on Margot. I felt that looking at the world events through the eyes of the PM's wives would be interesting. The other factor was Violet Asquith and her determined actions to come between her stepmother and father and Clementine and Winston Churchill. Although both interesting I felt the Churchill book was the better of the two but both worth reading. The phrase "behind every great man...." comes to mind and here you have a window into their lives.