Precipice - Robert Harris
| 2 min read
Author: Robert Harris
Category: Fiction
Format: Paperback
Finished: Yes
Rating: 9/10
Comments: The big deal about this book is that it's partly true. The Prime Minister of the day, who was in his 60s, was dating a 26 year old and was sharing a lot of government secrets with her, not because she was a spy or anything like that, but becuase he was madly in love with her and always wanted her opinion on government matters, so he started to share with her. He also was quite frivolous with government telegrams by throwing them out the car, only later to be found by the public. All a bit dodgy for a country that’s about to go to war.
A very good read. The usual Robert Harris’s style. Easy going, quick, with a few twists and turns. The letters from the PM are true, which is amazing, really, considering what was going on.
The "Asquith affair": his relationship with Venetia Stanley, two events that significantly impacted H.H. Asquith's political career. Asquith's close, potentially romantic, relationship with Venetia Stanley, a young socialite, was a subject of public and political gossip, particularly as it coincided with significant political turmoil and Asquith's eventual fall from power.
Beatrice Venetia Stanley Montagu (22 August 1887 – 3 August 1948) was a British aristocrat and socialite best known for the many letters that Prime Minister H. H. Asquith wrote to her between 1910 and 1915.
Highly Recommended.