Garvin of the Observer

Originally published in 1985. One of the most distinguished editors in the history of British journalism, J. L. Garvin created the Sunday newspaper as we now know it. His career at the Observer spanned the golden age of the British press when newspapers had a powerful influence on political affairs. Like the other great editors of the first half of the twentieth century Garvin clashed with his proprietors. He liked to contrast 'Responsible Editorship' with 'Austensible Editorship' where the editor took his political orders from the owners. He passionately believed that the readers of any newspaper worth buying had a right to know what the editor himself thought about any important matter. This was the essence of an implied contract, the basis of trust between paper and the reader. It was Garvin's energy and integrity which transformed the Observer into a major force in the British press so that long before his death most respectable middle class families would have hesitated to admit they had not seen the Observer. This first substantial biography of Garvin of the Observer will be of interest to all students of modern political history and of the press in contemporary society.

David Ayerst

Preface; Introduction: Garvin in His Time; Part One Jim Garvin Till Fifty, 1868-1918; Part 2 Book One: North Country Apprenticeship 1868-1899; Chapter 1 An Irish Boy On Merseyside, 1868-1884; Chapter 2 Tammany Teenager, 1884-1889; Chapter 3 Garvin Finds a Guru, 1889-1899; Chapter 4 Marriage 1894; Chapter 5 London Bound, 1893-1899; Part 3 Book Two: Empire Day in Fleet Street, 1899-1906; Chapter 6 His Master's Voice, 1899-1904; Chapter 7 What Calchas Foresaw, 1899-1902; Chapter 8 Indian Interlude, 1902-1903; Chapter 9 Chamberlain's Man, 1903-1904; Chapter 10 Garvin's Outlook, 1904-1906; Part 4 Book Three: The Northcliffe Years, 1907-1911; Chapter 11 Northcliffe's Part ner, 1907-1911; Chapter 12 Greville Place, 1908-1922; Chapter 13 The Defence of Britain, 1908-1911; Chapter 14 The Lords and the Budget, 1909; Chapter 15 A Truce of God, 1910; Chapter 16 The Battle Resumed, 1910; Chapter 17 Exit Northcliffe, 1910-1911; Part 5 Book Four: Garvin and the Astors, 1911-1914; Chapter 18 Enter the Astors, 1911; Chapter 19 Politics in No Man's Land, 1911; Chapter 20 Garvin's Tandem, 1912-1914; Chapter 21 The Covenanter, 1912-1914; Part 6 Book Five: The First World War, Father and Son, 1914-1918; Chapter 22 The Coming of War, 1914-1915; Chapter 23 The Flowers of the Forest, July 1915-July 1916; Chapter 24 De Profundis, 1916-1918; Part Two 'Garve', 1919-1947; Part 8 Book Six: A Second Spring, 1919-1927; Chapter 25 Peace and Dragon's Teeth, 1919; Chapter 26 The Second Mrs Garvin, 1919-1921; Chapter 27 The Coming of Barrington-Ward, 1919; Chapter 28 Garvin and Lloyd George, 1922; Chapter 29 Gregories, 1921-1947; Chapter 30 The Loss of Barrington-Ward, 1925-1927; Part 9 Book Seven: Appearance and Reality, 1929-1938; Chapter 31 High Water, 1929-1930; Chapter 32 The Tide Turns, 1928-1933; Chapter 33 The Chamberlain Torso, 1932-1938; Part 10 Book Eight. A Diversity of Dictators, 1933-1947; Chapter 34 Calchas Redivivus, 1933-1935; Chapter 35 The Mountains of Rasselas, 1935-1936; Chapter 36 Odd Dictator Out, 1936-1940; Chapter 37 'The Nonesuch State', 1936-1939; Chapter 38 Shipwreck, 1939-1942; Chapter 39 Afterglow, 1942-1947; Notes Notes and References;