John Leonard Clive

1345 Macaulay: The Shaping of the Historian, by John Clive (read 6 July 1975)(Book of the Year)(National Book Award history prize for 1974) When I read this astoundingly well written book I said it was "the perfect book." Thomas Babington Macaulay was born Oct 25, 1800. This book depicts his father Zachary, covers TBM's childhood and years at Cambridge, his study of law (he practiced only slightly), his time in Parliament, his time in India (he left England Feb 15, 1834 and returned June 1, 1838), and discusses everything about his life up to that date: June 1, 1838, I had never seen a book better done--everything about it was interesting: it whetted my interest in everything discussed: Macaulay's essays, the 1832 Reform Bill, England and India. I expected that Clive would do a book covering the rest of Macaulay's life, but so far as I know he never did. This book, of course, won my award for best book read in 1975.… (mer)