T’s Reviews > Whitehall > Status Update

I do find my eyes glossing over a lot of this book, but the narrative is too uneven and Hennessy loses the wood for the trees. He clearly knows more about Whitehall than any living person, but good heavens he doesn't understand we're not even 1% as clued up...

Not bad, but they're so much detail that it's easy to get lost. I daren't guess how much I'll remember

Hennessy's book is a huge and impressive undertaking. However, I can't help but wish he was a bit more critical. I get the feeling that he uses the opinions of authors to push hint at his views rather than coming out and stating his own. For example, he regularly cites long paragraphs praising or attacking something. The author clearly loves and respects British history and it's institutions, but why equivocate?