My Life With Nye - review

I found this in Oxfam. I see from the end of the book that Jenny Lee wrote it after people had claimed that there was something wrong with her relationship with Nye Bevan because she had not written about Nye after his death.

The first third of the book is Jenny Lee on her life before she became involved with Nye, during which, as a working class girl, she had risen to be MP for North Lanark (1929-31) after studying at Edinburgh University. She quotes a lot of letters that she wrote to a friend during this period, but the rest of the book is somewhat lacking in primary sources and heavily dependent on reminiscences.

There is lots of good material on the atmosphere of being on the Labour left throughout the tumultuous 1930s and the tortured 1950s, although Lee is bad at providing the essential background to many of the situations that she discusses. Overall the book is a very personal view of the times, her own life, and her relationship with Nye. What most stands out for me is the shocking workload that they imposed on themselves, including many overseas trips made (in the early years) under primitive travel and accommodation facilities. Comparing what Lee achieved in her second period as an MP 1945-70 (not dealt with in the book) she comes across as a magnificent campaigner (1929-1945) but an indifferent administrator/reformer. And, of course, the one thing she is most remembered for (setting up the Open University) was based on an idea of Michael Young (Lord Young of Dartington) and the development work done by the National Extension College in Cambridge in the early to mid-1960s.

In her summary chapter Jenny Lee asks ‘So what was it all about? What were we striving for all those years? Did it really matter? Or has it all now passed into the limbo of history, leaving hardly a trace behind?’ Surely that’s what we all ask ourselves as we approach the end of our days, realising that, insofar as we shall make any difference, there is no longerues with another of those sobering thoughts for those who have strived to leave their mark: ‘The hero’s need of the people outlasts their need of him. They obey the pressures of contemporary conditions whilst he strives to perpetuate the situation where he stood supreme.’ And, on the next page, she continues with another of those sobering thoughts for those who have strived to leave their mark: ‘The hero’s need of the people outlasts their need of him. They obey the pressures of contemporary conditions whilst he strives to perpetuate the situation where he stood supreme.’ [2]

Jenny Lee 'My Life With Nye'. Jonathan Cape Ltd (1980).