Harold Nicolson

by Norman Rose

Harold Nicolson was a man of extraordinary gifts. A renowned politician, historian, biographer, diarist, novelist, lecturer, journalist, broadcaster and gardener, his position in society and politics allowed him an insight into the most dramatic events of British, indeed world, history.Nicolson's personal life was no less dramatic. Married to Vita Sackville-West, one of the most famous writers of her day, their marriage survived, even prospered, despite their both being practising homosexuals. Unashamedly elitist, bound together by their literary, social, and intellectual pursuits, moving in the refined circles of the Bloomsbury group they viewed life from the rarified peaks of aristocratic haughtiness. Few men could boast such gifts as Nicolson possessed, yet he ended his life plagued by self-doubt. 'I am attempting nothing; therefore I cannot fail,' he once acknowledged. What went wrong? It was a question that haunted Nicolson throughout his adult life. Relying on a wealth of archival material, Norman Rose brilliantly disentangles fact from fiction, setting Nicolson's story of perceived failure against the wider perspective of his times.

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 22, 2005

About the author

A distinguished historian and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Norman Rose is the Chair of International Relations at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.

Reviews

[Elsbeth Kwant]

A fascinating man - Harold Nicolson - I love his diaries of wry introspection ('it's rather sad to think that of all my forty books, the only ones that will be remembered are the three I didn't realise I'd written.'). This biography added another layer to my understanding of Nicolson. 'Few men could boast such gifts as Nicolson posessed, yet he ended his life plagued by self-doubt.'
Nicolson left the foreign office (where he went in his father's footsteps, with the same feeling of uneasiness: 'I am not a good head of an office. I am too easy-going... I do so hate rows'). He wrote books about his father, current affairs and diplomacy, 'the natural overflow of a well-stocked mind', and transmitted his facile pen to his son, Nigel and grandson Adam. He lived through the first and second world wars. 'The dome of St. Paul's rather dim-lit and then above it a concentration of searchlights upon the huge golden cross. So I went to bed. That was my victory day'. But also his sense of 'effortless superiority', his intellectual belief in democracy, yet difficulty in accepting that meant letting go of his own privileges. The beautiful garden and life he created with temperamental Vita Sackville West. A life worth living, writing and reading about...

[Tony Siciliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a rather sad biography of a man who was somewhat accomplished in foreign policy, politics, and literature. He was notable for being one of the few politicians who early on urged England to arm and prepare for a war with Hitler's Germany. Plagued all his life by self-doubt, he always felt his life had come up somewhat short. He admitted he did not have the ambition or killer instinct to have risen to the top in any of his areas of endeavor. More interesting to me were his personal inconsistencies. Although raised in a wealthy family, he believed in socialism. Yet, as much as he wanted life to improve for the lower classes, he was much attached to his own opulence and privilege and could never give it up. His work in the Foreign Office found him very much supportive of nations created and supported by popular will. Yet he maintained a life-long disdain of non-white people of all kinds. While he was gay (as was his wife, Vita), he lived a life that avoided any public attention to it. He served in Parliament for 10 years, yet he hated campaigning for office. The idea of dealing with "the lower classes" filled him with dread and disgust. So, yes, an interesting life, a conflicted life, a life of some accomplishment. This was an interesting read. I was left with a feeling of disappointment that his talent was blunted by an unhappy and conflicted personality.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A detailed account of Harold Nicolson's life and works. Gives an overview of a man often overlooked as having been overshadowed by his wife's notoriety, celebrity, infamy. Not a negligible contribution to life and letters. I have all of his diaries and biographies and read them all several times. Pleased with this new addition.