Roy Jenkins, himself a prominent politician for much of the last third of the 20th century, made a side-career in writing entertaining and informative biographies of a number of key figures in British politics. His own experiences, I think, give him insights; this is true even for books early in his writing and political careers, like this one. It's a look at the long-serving Prime Minister who served in the years leading up to the First World War, and the first few years of that conflict. One does get a good sense of what the man was like from Jenkins' portrayal. I would tend to agree that Asquith comes off as a very good chief of cabinet, and not a very good politician, as such. (It's interesting to me that Asquith never really had a safe seat in Parliament -- in many cases, he barely hung on to his seat, even the long-standing Scottish constituency he represented, Fife.) I'm uncertain how much has come to light since this book was published in 1964 -- it's quite possible that more of the Cabinet papers on key decisions have emerged, but it is an engaging read, nonetheless. I've read a few other of Jenkins' books, and I'd recommend this one, too. ( )

995 Asquith: Portrait of a Man and an Era, by Roy Jenkins (read 22 Jan 1969) (Book of the Year) A classic biography! I enjoyed the early part more than the latter--the days of Victorian England are more hallowed in my eyes, of course, than World War I England and after. Herbert Henry Asquith was born in Yorkshire on Sept 12, 1852. He was a lawyer, but in July 1886 was elected to Parliament from East Fife in Scotland. In 1892 he became Home Secretary in Gladstone's Cabinet. On April 16, 1908, he became Prime Minister, and remained such till December 1916. Momentous years! After December 1916 all is rather dismal. He died Feb 15, 1928. An almost perfect biography. ( )

Roy Jenkins shows Asquith to be a master of presentation and argument (he was a lawyer) while lacking interest in the issues.
Asquith seemed to be almost unaware of the industrial challenges facing Great Britian from Germany and the U.S.A. and it took Churchill to get above the political squabbling and say (about Germany), "She is organized not only for war, but for peace. We are organized for nothing except party politics. . . . . I say thrust a big slice of Bismarkism over the whole underside of our industrial system, and await the consequences whatever they may be with a good conscience."
This wasn't for Asquith. He was a gentleman paternalist who joined forces with the labour wing of his Liberal party (Lloyd George) to pass the 1909 budget founding the socialist Welfare State. Asquith and Lloyd George typically celebrated with dinner at the Savoy while British industry entered a further half century of decline, failures and strikes.
A very well written biography of a useless politician. ( )