Marcia Williams (4) (1932–2019)

This book is not very good as an historic record: Marcia Williams assumes, too often, that one will remember the events to which she refers. This may have been the case when she wrote same, but now, much that seemed so important at the time, has become lost in the mists of time.

I read this work because Bernard Donoughue has written a book, which I recently consumed, in which, he set out his reminiscences of the period of Harold Wilson's Government. Donoughue was particularly abrasive about Wilson's relationship with Williams. He made many unsavoury suggestions as to what this might be. Williams does not 'dish the dirt', rather she tries to analyse the main characters, particularly Mr. Wilson. Her caricatures are always kindly drawn and, whilst this does not answer the questions, it does cast grave doubts upon the version of Mr D.

The final pages are a well considered review of Wilson's time in power; the things that went well, the errors that were made and the changes that would be needed for a working Labour/Civil Service relationship. Some of those things have come to pass in the intervening years but so much still remains to be done.… (mer)