Never a dull sentence: the journalism of Harry Perry Robinson

Is Boris Johnson a fan of Harry Perry Robinson? If he isn’t, he really ought to be. Reading this absorbing biography, I was struck by how much they have in common — especially in their early lives. Both men went to public school, then on to Oxford, then into journalism, where they proved incapable of writing a dull sentence. They both divorced and remarried — and were also American citizens, for a while. Both dipped a toe into politics, but while Boris took the plunge, Harry stepped back and remained a jobbing hack until his dying day, the finest journalist of his generation. The biggest difference, however, is that Harry was born in 1859, which is why you’ve probably never heard of him. I certainly hadn’t until I read Joseph McAleer’s fascinating book.

Robinson’s journalistic career gave him a ringside seat at some of the most dramatic events of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, from the American Gold Rush of the 1880s to the excavation of Tutankhamun’s tomb. He had the three crucial attributes common to all great reporters: an eye for a good story, the wit and tenacity to research it properly and the ability to write it up in an entertaining way. One of his editors said that his copy read like Dickens. The extracts McAleer reproduces bear this out.

Robinson won his spurs as a reporter in the USA, where he proved hugely successful. By his mid-thirties he was a prolific columnist, editor, novelist and publisher — mainly due to his talent and hard work, but also, in no small part, to his wealthy, well-connected American wife. Then, in 1900, after 17 spectacular years Stateside, culminating in a leading role in winning the presidency for the Republican candidate William McKinley, he returned to Britain. Why? Nobody, including McAleer, seems entirely sure, but it appears to have had something to do with the breakdown of his marriage.