Supermac

This is how D.R. Thorpe tells the story, eloquently and elegantly, as he does everything in this exemplary biography, which complements if it does not entirely supplant Alistair Horne's two-volume official Life; Horne is better on the military, Thorpe on the political and personal. At every juncture Thorpe presents the evidence in a scrupulous and equable style -- Ferdinand Mount London Review of Books A spellbinding insight into the fascinating character of one of the most remarkable politicians of the twentieth century Evening Standard DR Thorpe is one of our finest historians, and this is one of his finest books: painstaking, detailed, but always readable. You come as close as you can to understanding Macmillan from these pages Observer This humane, elegantly written, exhaustively researched biography is the best yet of Macmillan, and indeed one of the best of any postwar prime minister -- David Kynaston Guardian Superb biography...Thorpe has three qualities that make him a first-rate biographer and they are all evident here. He is a phenomenal scholar and has left almost no primary source untapped for this book. He is the master of the anecdote, in which the book abounds and which as a result makes it a joy to read...But best of all, Thorpe writes beautifully... he understands that in writing the life of a politician, it is not all about politics -- Simon Heffer Daily Telegraph