But his natural form of expression is resolutely humdrum. George VI, he tells us, ‘was called to the Throne in circumstances that must have caused him distress. It is a tribute to him and to Her Gracious Majesty the Queen Mother that they so soon established themselves firmly in the heart of the people.’ Well, yes, but if the reader is to take this as an example of the ‘uniqueness of Attlee’s style’, the prospects are not very encouraging. Montgomery ‘had not the same sure touch in dealing with people of various nationalities as had Alexander and Eisenhower. He did not always realise the effects of his somewhat brusque methods.’ These essays are riddled with such conventional judgments expressed in pedestrian prose. They are sensible, balanced, cogent and lack-lustre — remarkably like their author. The British can count themselves lucky to have had Attlee as their prime minister, but there is no obligation to admire his literary style.

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