An exceptional craftsman

Press, 18 August 1979, Page 15

An exceptional craftsman

Arthur Bryant: Portrait of a Historian. By Pamela Street. Collins, 1979. 232 pp. $18.85. (Reviewed by Geoffrey Rice)

Sir Arthur Bryant is probably the best-known of modern British historians who write for the general public. Since 1936 his regular column in the “Illustrated London News” has made him a respected commentator on the British way of life, but his reputation rests largely upon such best sellers as his "Samuel Pepys” trilogy, his war-time morale-boosters “English Saga” and “Years of Endurance,” his medieval histories “Makers of the Realm” and “The Age of Chivalry”, and more recently his biography of Wellington, “The Great Duke,” and his history of the Rifle Brigade “Jackets of Green.” AH of Bryant’s books are superbly readable; he is in this respect a literary craftsman of exceptional quality. Yet his passion for accuracy, his respect for sources, and his command of detail are worthy of the best academic historians, many of Whom must secretly wish they could write half as well as he. The nearest comparision is with Churchill, not only in style and readability, but above all in the values which they shared; their sense of Britain’s past, their strong belief in individual freedom and the humanity of man, and their deep faith in what they saw as the best qualities of the British people. This book attempts to convey something of those values and of Arthur Bryant’s philosophy of history in the course of an informal personal sketch of his life and character.

Pamela Street has oeen his personal assistant since 1971, and is wellqualified to write the sort of intimate life which she knew Sir Arthur (or A.B. as she calls him) would never write of himself. The result is a lively Cromwellian portrait, warts and all, of an extraordinarily energetic, dedicated and charming man. As much as a third of it is, in fact, by A.B. himself, being extracts from his letters, diaries and columns, giving us his trenchant and often passionately-argued views upon education, politics, old houses, the E.E.C., the English countryside, and so forth, but mostly upon the writing of history and why it is vital to a civilised society. Following Miss Street up and down all those stairs we get to know the house at Rutland Gate almost as well as she, and there is often a sense of excitment as she describes the rush to meet deadlines, to return proofs, or to catch the afternoon mail. Through this insight into a great writer’s work habits, we also gain’ insights into his character: besiues the strong impression of sheer hard work and concentration, we find a man of warmth and compassion, with a sense of fun as well as duty. Though Miss Street’s tone is admiring, it is never adulatory, and she mostly lets A.B. speak for himself. There are many delightful anecdotes often of trains and taxis, to enliven the text. Thus the book reflects its subject and is never dull, for as Arthur Bryant knew, boring history is bad history, and good history should never be dull, because it is about people.