Excellent as usual Dens. It’s really fascinating to think about the legacies of figures conjured up in these stories. Mosley will surely loom over late 20th century Britain, even after his death. Many will define themselves by the way they view Britain in the Mosleyite years - for some he will be 20% bad and 80% good, and others all wrong.
I do wonder what ends up bringing him down in the end.
Thanks TommI imagine by the late 60s you have a situation, not entirely unlike today with reference to Thatcher for example, where the generation who grew up with him have strong opinions either way – but there’s no doubt that he’s shaped the orthodoxy well into the present. Which, with everything that will unfold in the Sixties, sort of creates what I hope is an interesting tension between those who bought (or swallowed) Mosley’s vision of Britain, and those who see through it.
Lovely little glimpses on the brief Bevanite takeover in the 60s!
In time we’ll see more than just glimpses, but I do enjoy giving some breadcrumbs to hint where we’re going.
I’ve also been thinking about Isaiah Berlin in this TL. Given there have been so many mentions of the sympathy of the British Revolution with Jews, he may well have stayed in Britain under the Commonwealth rather than emigrate. His critique of the regime would no doubt be very interesting!
I’m not nearly as familiar with Berlin as I would perhaps like to be, but I think it’s a fair call to suggest he’s stayed in Britain. (Particularly with how the US looks by contrast.) I could imagine him being offered some sort of high-ranking position at Oxford as a sop to “demosleyfication” in the universities.
The idea of Commonwealth émigrés, incidentally, is one I have considered. I have an idea that a lot of interesting “British” cinema in the Sixties might actually be made abroad, for example, in a sort of Tarkovsky-in-Sweden .
I do believe this is what is termed a "hatchet-job".
Another masterful piece of biased writing. Through these marvellously prejudiced viewpoints you paint a rich picture.
Absolutely, time to slaughter some sacred cows!
I do enjoy the idea that one sort of has to piece together a narrative by gleaning bits from a load of not entirely reliable sources.
Glad you enjoy it also.