Military Lives: Intimate Biographies of the Famous by the Famous (review)

The title of this book is perhaps more accurate than the subtitle. These brief lives are in fact entries from the Dictionary of National Biography. The DNB is an institution—one might almost say a custom—of which the British are inordinately proud. "The best record of a nation's past that any civilization has produced," as G. M. Trevelyan asserted in 1944. Military Lives is a selection made and judiciously introduced by Hew Strachan. It contains at least two miniature masterpieces: E. T. Williams on Montgomery and Michael Carver on de Guingand (first published in 1986), both infused with the "private information" and "personal knowledge" that was the hallmark of the DNB contributor of the old school, both brilliantly transcending the limitations of the genre. There are more rich pickings: beautifully turned evocations of Liddell Hart by Ronald Lewin (1981), Freyberg by Dan Davin (1981), and Lawrence by Ronald Storrs (1949). The plain-speaking Carver crops up again with a trenchant assessment of Templer (1986). "A martinet in appearance and manner, his displeasure—even his presence—was intimidating." One hopes that the new Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, out next year, will do full justice to the late Field Marshal Lord Carver in his turn.

Many entries are disappointingly formulaic, or merely reticent. Wavell on Wingate (1959) is one of several intriguing combinations that fail to catch fire. Some notable lives go unrecorded. As Strachan points out, there are astounding omissions in the DNB itself (including for example Sir Ronald Adam, the enlightened Adjutant-General during the Second World War). On the other hand, some "missing persons" have lately found their way to potted posterity. This selection includes Christopher Andrew on Mansfield Cumming, the original "C", first head of what became the Secret Intelligence Service (1993), F. H. Hinsley on Alastair Denniston, the long-serving head of the Government Code and Cypher School (1981), and Peter Wilkinson on Colin Gubbins, chief of the Special Operations Executive (1986). These entries are not as revealing as one might hope, but they do contain cherishable details—Cumming was retired from the Royal Navy because he suffered from severe seasickness.

Like its source, Military Lives is a period piece—or rather a collection of tesserae—with a quirkish character all of its own, and a certain reputation. The evolution of military biography, with special reference to the DNB, is a doctoral dissertation waiting to be written.