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Kitchener: Portrait Of An Imperialist
E.P. Dutton, 1959. Hardcover. First Edition.
485 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1958
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About the author
Philip Magnus
43 booksSir Philip Magnus, 1st Baronet was an English educational reformer and politician, who represented the London University constituency as a Unionist from 1906 to 1922.
Not to be confused with his grandson, Philip Magnus-Allcroft.
Not to be confused with his grandson, Philip Magnus-Allcroft.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 24, 2018
I knew very little, as it turned out, about the details of Lord Kitchener's life, though as a figure, he appeared to me to embody the very essence of the British at the height of empire. Philip Magnus' kindly biography did an admirable job of filling in the facts of that life, though there were many times I thought the author tried to be charitable when it came to Kitchener's deficiencies; at several places, I noticed where Magnus raised a critical point, then sought to diffuse it with extenuating circumstances, or in the inability of others to see beyond Kitchener's exterior.
Still, whether by the author's design or no, the picture of Kitchener that eventually comes through is of a flawed man, whose drive and ambition (along with the period of history in which he operated) no doubt contributed to his successes, and whose intransigent insistence on a kind of personal autocracy wherever he went directly led to his most famous failures. Kitchener captured the imagination and acclaim of his countrymen when, at the head of an Egyptian army and supported by British regulars, he conquered Sudan, and 'avenged' the death of General Gordon, who had died during the siege of Khartoum several years earlier. In the eyes of the public, he could do no wrong from that moment on, even though he suffered serious reversals later in the Boer War, and was out of his depth as Secretary of State for War during WWI, where he agreed to the disastrous Gallipoli campaign.
A brief search for other biographies of Lord Kitchener only return books written not long after his death--I don't know if his name has much resonance anymore, especially outside of England, and so this effort by Magnus may be someone's best option if they are interested in this figure, or at least in the effect he had during the height of Britain's colonial period. It was published in 1958, which may have been the last point where an unequivocally positive biography of a man like Kitchener could have been written. I do think it was worthwhile, despite my critiques, even if a contemporary assessment of Kitchener would probably be diametrically opposed to those of 60 years ago.
Still, whether by the author's design or no, the picture of Kitchener that eventually comes through is of a flawed man, whose drive and ambition (along with the period of history in which he operated) no doubt contributed to his successes, and whose intransigent insistence on a kind of personal autocracy wherever he went directly led to his most famous failures. Kitchener captured the imagination and acclaim of his countrymen when, at the head of an Egyptian army and supported by British regulars, he conquered Sudan, and 'avenged' the death of General Gordon, who had died during the siege of Khartoum several years earlier. In the eyes of the public, he could do no wrong from that moment on, even though he suffered serious reversals later in the Boer War, and was out of his depth as Secretary of State for War during WWI, where he agreed to the disastrous Gallipoli campaign.
A brief search for other biographies of Lord Kitchener only return books written not long after his death--I don't know if his name has much resonance anymore, especially outside of England, and so this effort by Magnus may be someone's best option if they are interested in this figure, or at least in the effect he had during the height of Britain's colonial period. It was published in 1958, which may have been the last point where an unequivocally positive biography of a man like Kitchener could have been written. I do think it was worthwhile, despite my critiques, even if a contemporary assessment of Kitchener would probably be diametrically opposed to those of 60 years ago.
May 20, 2022
This is a readable account of Lord Kitchener's life and career, but is lacking in deep and balanced analysis. There has been excellent work on Kitchener's life and especially on his work in the First World War, especially by George Cassar. I would strongly advise those who wish to delve into Kitchener's career to go there, rather than rest on Magnus' book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews