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Debts of Honour
Debts of Honour is Michael Foot's most famous collection of essays. Adept at the longer distance though he was, one only has to remember
The Pen and the Sword
and his
Aneurin Bevan
biography, the essay very often saw his writing at its sharpest and most eloquent. He has been compared to Arnold Bennett and J. B. Priestley, but there is no exaggeration in extending that to A. J. P. Taylor.
Of this volume, Kenneth Morgan has written,' But it is still an enchanting volume, revealing of Foot's style and of his friends and heroes past and present. His heroes are literary and political, though it is clear that for Foot the categories merge into one common stream of aspiration.' There are fourteen essays. It is instructive to list the subjects: Isaac Foot (his father), William Hazlitt, Benjamin Disraeli, Beaverbrook, Bonar Thompson (Hyde Park Sceptic); Bertrand Russell; H. N. Brailsford; Ignazio Silone; Vicky (the cartoonist); Randolph Churchill; Thomas Paine; Daniel Defoe; Sarah, The Duchess of Marlborough, and Jonathan Swift. The range is impressively wide, something that struck a fledgling politician. In July 1982 Tony Blair wrote with depressing truth, 'The first thing that struck me about Debts of Honour was the prison if ignorance which my generation has constructed for itself.' Having mentioned Hazlitt, Paine and Brailsford and doubting they are still read, he ends with this exhortation, 'We need to recover the searching radicalism of these people.' Stirring words even if they might embarrass the author now!
'Michael Foot is an accomplished politician, a trenchant orator and a devoted Socialsit - all good things to be. But the Michael Foot I like best is the enthusiastic essayist, using his command of words to praise his Radical heroes past and present. Here are fourteen of them in all theiri variety. Some were politicians, one was philosopher, some were journalists, one was a woman . . . some were Socialsits; some strongly anti-Socialist. But all, including Michael himself, had one thing in common: a proud individualism and a rejection of conventional ways . . . The book is packed with delights from the first page to the last.' A. J. P. Taylor, Evening Standard
'He pays theses Debts of Honour to a variety of incongruous people from Right as well as Left of the political spectrum. No narrow bigot could acknowledge as heroes both Hazlitt and Disraeli, both Bertrand Russell and Lord Beaverbrook. Only a determined eclectic could pay homage both to Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, and to Jonathan Swift, both to Vicky and to Randolph Churchill . . . Michael Foot is open-mindedly one-sided.' The Times
'He is one of the best literary and political journalsits and essaysits of our time: he is far, far more than an unusually literate politician. Mr Foot is a worthy companion of all those he writes about. Such a thoroughly enjoyable book!' Bernard Crick, The Guardian
Of this volume, Kenneth Morgan has written,' But it is still an enchanting volume, revealing of Foot's style and of his friends and heroes past and present. His heroes are literary and political, though it is clear that for Foot the categories merge into one common stream of aspiration.' There are fourteen essays. It is instructive to list the subjects: Isaac Foot (his father), William Hazlitt, Benjamin Disraeli, Beaverbrook, Bonar Thompson (Hyde Park Sceptic); Bertrand Russell; H. N. Brailsford; Ignazio Silone; Vicky (the cartoonist); Randolph Churchill; Thomas Paine; Daniel Defoe; Sarah, The Duchess of Marlborough, and Jonathan Swift. The range is impressively wide, something that struck a fledgling politician. In July 1982 Tony Blair wrote with depressing truth, 'The first thing that struck me about Debts of Honour was the prison if ignorance which my generation has constructed for itself.' Having mentioned Hazlitt, Paine and Brailsford and doubting they are still read, he ends with this exhortation, 'We need to recover the searching radicalism of these people.' Stirring words even if they might embarrass the author now!
'Michael Foot is an accomplished politician, a trenchant orator and a devoted Socialsit - all good things to be. But the Michael Foot I like best is the enthusiastic essayist, using his command of words to praise his Radical heroes past and present. Here are fourteen of them in all theiri variety. Some were politicians, one was philosopher, some were journalists, one was a woman . . . some were Socialsits; some strongly anti-Socialist. But all, including Michael himself, had one thing in common: a proud individualism and a rejection of conventional ways . . . The book is packed with delights from the first page to the last.' A. J. P. Taylor, Evening Standard
'He pays theses Debts of Honour to a variety of incongruous people from Right as well as Left of the political spectrum. No narrow bigot could acknowledge as heroes both Hazlitt and Disraeli, both Bertrand Russell and Lord Beaverbrook. Only a determined eclectic could pay homage both to Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, and to Jonathan Swift, both to Vicky and to Randolph Churchill . . . Michael Foot is open-mindedly one-sided.' The Times
'He is one of the best literary and political journalsits and essaysits of our time: he is far, far more than an unusually literate politician. Mr Foot is a worthy companion of all those he writes about. Such a thoroughly enjoyable book!' Bernard Crick, The Guardian
223 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
30 people want to read
About the author
Michael Foot
66 books13 followersMichael Mackintosh Foot was an English Labour politician and writer, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1992, and was the Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 23, 2021
Fascinating collection of biographical essays. One suspects they reveal more about Michael Foot than their subjects, but that is no bad thing, all in.
Foot was well respected as a literary critic and much maligned as a figure of the "hard left" but, what this book also reveals, is his deep and fundamental commitment to the radical tradition within liberal democracy. His "socialism" is English and democratic to the core, with as much enthusiasm devoted to Benjamin Disraeli as H.N. Brailsford.
Perhaps this is why, in the end, he floundered as a politician. For those wishing to remember him in a different, more forgiving light, or learn about him with fresh eyes (as I have), this would be a fine place to begin.
Foot was well respected as a literary critic and much maligned as a figure of the "hard left" but, what this book also reveals, is his deep and fundamental commitment to the radical tradition within liberal democracy. His "socialism" is English and democratic to the core, with as much enthusiasm devoted to Benjamin Disraeli as H.N. Brailsford.
Perhaps this is why, in the end, he floundered as a politician. For those wishing to remember him in a different, more forgiving light, or learn about him with fresh eyes (as I have), this would be a fine place to begin.
September 29, 2013
I know it's been said so often that it doesn't bear repeating again, but Michael Foot really is an excellent writer. The essays here come from a variety of sources (some were written specifically for the book, but many were originally newspaper articles), and cover a variety of people who Foot respected for a variety of reasons, but his incisive essays are perhaps more revealing about him than they are of his subjects. Essays on figures he knew personally range from an affectionate portrait of his father to a reflection on the tragic passing of Vicky (the cartoonist) to a surprisingly sympathetic sketch of former parliamentary rival Randolph Churchill. Most interesting by far is his essay on Lord Beaverbrook though--the Foot-Beaverbrook relationship, if not the relationship between Beaverbrook and the Tribunites/Bevanites in general, is always one of the great enigmas of midcentury politics and the press in Great Britain, so it's interesting to see it from Foot's own perspective (though inevitably he is incapable of being too terribly critical towards a man who could practically be considered a second father).
The essays on historical figures are no less illuminating, in terms of Foot's earnest defensiveness toward somewhat controversial characters. His tendency to recast his heroes in his own image is unavoidable, yet intriguing; he anachronistically applies the appellation "feminist" to everyone from Defoe to Disraeli to the Duchess of Marlborough, yet hadn't included a single essay on a woman in the book until his wife pointed out the noticeable absence of one. The historical subjects are overwhelmingly authors, but then again, there is no subject closer to the author's heart than the written word. He is particularly keen to rescue Swift, Paine, and Hazlitt from the abuse of their detractors, both historical and modern.
While not an academic in the traditional sense (though he undoubtedly had the physical appearance of an unkempt university professor), Foot is certainly well-read enough to write cogently and with conviction on all manner of historical and literary people and events. After finishing "Debts of Honour" I certainly felt motivated to seek out more of Michael Foot's writing, but more importantly, I felt motivated to seek out the works he had so enthusiastically eulogised in the text. Even if you approach the book with no familiarity with most of its subjects (and really, who in 2013 can claim to have even heard of Ignazio Silone or Bonar Thompson?), you are certain to finish it with a lengthy reading list ahead of you.
The essays on historical figures are no less illuminating, in terms of Foot's earnest defensiveness toward somewhat controversial characters. His tendency to recast his heroes in his own image is unavoidable, yet intriguing; he anachronistically applies the appellation "feminist" to everyone from Defoe to Disraeli to the Duchess of Marlborough, yet hadn't included a single essay on a woman in the book until his wife pointed out the noticeable absence of one. The historical subjects are overwhelmingly authors, but then again, there is no subject closer to the author's heart than the written word. He is particularly keen to rescue Swift, Paine, and Hazlitt from the abuse of their detractors, both historical and modern.
While not an academic in the traditional sense (though he undoubtedly had the physical appearance of an unkempt university professor), Foot is certainly well-read enough to write cogently and with conviction on all manner of historical and literary people and events. After finishing "Debts of Honour" I certainly felt motivated to seek out more of Michael Foot's writing, but more importantly, I felt motivated to seek out the works he had so enthusiastically eulogised in the text. Even if you approach the book with no familiarity with most of its subjects (and really, who in 2013 can claim to have even heard of Ignazio Silone or Bonar Thompson?), you are certain to finish it with a lengthy reading list ahead of you.
August 18, 2018
Worth reading for the essays on Paine and Swift alone.
June 5, 2024
worth it for the beaverbrook + disraeli essays, rest a little windy
September 16, 2012
A selection of essays about people who have greatly influenced him. I found it rather moving and added it to that 'to buy' list, which has most of the books I want, which are still waiting to be bought. :D
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews