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Paul Johnson (Writer)

Paul Johnson

Paul Bede Johnson CBE (2 November 1928 – 12 January 2023) was a British individual who carved out a rather notable existence as a journalist, a popular historian, a speechwriter, and, predictably, an author. His trajectory was, for lack of a more flattering term, a classic pivot: initially associated with the political left during his formative years, he eventually settled into the comfortable, if somewhat predictable, role of a prominent conservative voice. A man of many words, it seems.

| CBE
| Born | Paul Bede Johnson 2 November 1928 Manchester, Lancashire, England (modified from the original, with enhancements by Emma)

Paul Bede Johnson (2 November 1928 – 12 January 2023) was a rather prolific British figure, known variously as a journalist, a popular historian, a speechwriter, and an author. His career path, much like many human endeavors, featured a significant ideological shift. While initially aligned with the political left, particularly in his early professional life, Johnson later became a prominent and widely read conservative historian. One might say he saw the light, or perhaps merely followed the prevailing winds.

Johnson received his early education at the Jesuit independent school, Stonyhurst College, a fact he apparently held in higher regard than the more secular leanings of Oxford University. He then proceeded to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he immersed himself in the study of history. His initial foray into public life began in the 1950s as a journalist, writing for and eventually assuming the editorship of the influential New Statesman magazine. His pen, it seems, was rarely still, leading him to author more than 50 books and contribute to countless magazines and newspapers throughout his lengthy career. Among his progeny are the journalist Daniel Johnson, who went on to found Standpoint magazine, and the businessman Luke Johnson, formerly the chairman of Channel 4. A family affair, it would seem, this business of words and influence.

Early life and education

Paul Bede Johnson entered the world in Manchester, England, on 2 November 1928. His father, William Aloysius Johnson, was an artist of some repute and served as the principal of the Art School in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. This artistic background, however, did not deter young Paul from a more rigorous, structured education. At Stonyhurst College, he received a comprehensive education deeply rooted in the Jesuit pedagogical method. Johnson himself expressed a distinct preference for this traditional, Jesuit-informed curriculum over what he perceived as the more secularized academic environment encountered at the prestigious University of Oxford. A clear indication, perhaps, of a mind already inclining towards established structures and a certain moral framework.

His time at the University of Oxford saw him under the tutelage of the renowned historian A. J. P. Taylor, a figure known for his incisive analyses and often controversial interpretations of history. While at Oxford, Johnson was also a member of the rather exclusive Stubbs Society, an academic society dedicated to history, further cementing his early intellectual pursuits within the field.

Career

British Army

Upon the completion of his academic studies, where he earned a second-class honours degree, Johnson fulfilled his obligatory national service within the ranks of the British Army. He initially joined the King's Royal Rifle Corps, a distinguished infantry regiment, before transferring to the Royal Army Educational Corps. It was within this latter corps that he received his commission as an acting captain, primarily stationed in the strategically vital territory of Gibraltar. It was during this period, as he recounted, that he bore witness to the "grim misery and cruelty of the Franco regime," an observation that would later acquire a certain retrospective irony given his evolving political sympathies.

This military experience, surprisingly, proved instrumental in securing his next professional engagement. The Paris periodical Réalités hired him as an assistant editor, a position he held from 1952 to 1955. It was during his tenure in Paris that Johnson's political inclinations solidified towards the left. He cited a particularly visceral experience in May 1952, when he observed the police response to a riot in Paris. This disturbance involved Communists protesting the visit of American General Matthew Ridgway, who had commanded the US Eighth Army during the Korean War and had just been appointed NATO's Supreme Commander in Europe. Johnson described the "ferocity [of which] I would not have believed had I not seen it with my own eyes," an event that profoundly shaped his early left-wing outlook.

Following his time at Réalités, he continued his journalistic career as the New Statesman's Paris correspondent. For a significant period, he was a staunch Bevanite, aligning himself with the left-wing faction of the Labour Party and even becoming an associate of Aneurin Bevan himself, the charismatic architect of the National Health Service. In 1955, Johnson relocated back to London, joining the permanent staff of the Statesman.

Author

The year 1957 marked Johnson's debut as a published author with his first book, a detailed account of the Suez War. The work garnered attention, with an anonymous but pointed commentator in The Spectator noting that "one of his [Johnson's] remarks about Mr Gaitskell is quite as damaging as anything he has to say about Sir Anthony Eden." Despite this critique, Johnson found a certain validation in the Labour Party's opposition to the Suez intervention, interpreting it as a resurgence of "the old militant spirit of the party." A spirit he would later find himself quite at odds with.

His early critiques weren't limited to politics. In 1958, he famously launched an attack on Ian Fleming's James Bond novel, Dr No, finding its blend of "Sex, Snobbery and Sadism" rather distasteful. Then, in 1964, demonstrating a remarkable prescience (or perhaps just a keen eye for impending cultural shifts), he issued a stark warning about "The Menace of Beatlism." This article, published in the New Statesman, was promptly, and rather accurately, described as "rather exaggerated" by Henry Fairlie in The Spectator. One wonders if he ever truly recovered from the sheer cultural effrontery of four mop-topped musicians. That same year, his novel Merrie England (1964) received a rather brutal, yet entirely deserved, drubbing from The New York Times:

Grown-ups who have read Evelyn Waugh will find that satire requires more than indignation and a list of funny names... Curiously enough, the hero who tries to play Savonarola amid upper-class corruption is himself a public schoolboy. You can take the boy out of the Establishment, but you can't take the Establishment out of the boy.

A cutting observation, and one that, in retrospect, seems to encapsulate a certain enduring characteristic of Johnson's own intellectual journey.

From 1965 to 1970, Johnson ascended through the editorial ranks of the New Statesman, serving successively as lead writer, deputy editor, and finally, editor. His tenure was not without its controversies. There was a certain level of suspicion regarding his frequent attendances at the fashionable soirées hosted by Lady Antonia Fraser, who, at the time, was married to a Conservative Member of Parliament. Furthermore, his appointment as editor faced resistance, notably from the esteemed writer Leonard Woolf, who voiced objections to a Catholic occupying the position. Consequently, Johnson was initially placed on a probationary period of six months.

His 1971 anthology, Statesmen and Nations, a collection of his articles from the Statesman era, reveals a mind engaged with biographies of conservative politicians and an increasing openness to continental European thought. Interestingly, in one article, Johnson expressed a positive view of the tumultuous events of May 1968 in Paris. This stance prompted Colin Welch in The Spectator to accuse Johnson of possessing "a taste for violence," a charge that further highlights the complexity and occasional contradictions in his early political leanings. According to the records compiled within this very book, Johnson filed a remarkable 54 overseas reports during his years at the New Statesman, demonstrating an early and persistent global perspective.

Ideological shift

The late 1970s marked a discernible and increasingly pronounced shift in Johnson's ideological landscape. He began publishing articles in the very magazine he once edited, the New Statesman, that were sharply critical of trade unions and leftism in general. This pivot, as one might expect, did not go unnoticed. Indeed, the New Statesman itself, perhaps feeling a sense of betrayal or merely acknowledging the obvious, later published an article explicitly criticizing him. This critique appeared as part of a series somewhat sarcastically titled "Windbags of the West," which targeted various prominent conservative journalists. A rather undignified, but entirely predictable, turn of events for a former editor.

Johnson's influence expanded beyond the New Statesman. He served on the Royal Commission on the Press from 1974 to 1977, a body tasked with examining the structure and conduct of the British press, and was a member of the Cable Authority, the regulatory body for cable television, from 1984 to 1990. For nearly three decades, from 1981 to 2009, he penned a regular column for The Spectator. Initially, this column focused on developments within the media landscape, but it later evolved into the more broadly themed "And Another Thing." In his journalistic endeavors, Johnson frequently addressed issues and events that he interpreted as symptoms of a broader general social decline. His criticisms spanned various domains, from art and education to religious observance and personal conduct, reflecting a consistent lament for perceived moral decay. Although his contributions became less frequent in later years, he continued to write for the magazine. During a similar period, he also maintained a column for the Daily Mail until 2001. However, in a revealing Daily Telegraph interview in November 2003, Johnson publicly criticized the Mail, stating, "I came to the conclusion that that kind of journalism is bad for the country, bad for society, bad for the newspaper." A rather belated realization, one might argue, but a realization nonetheless.

Beyond his contributions to British publications, Johnson was a regular and respected contributor to The Daily Telegraph, primarily as a book reviewer, and his writings frequently appeared in prominent American publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Commentary, National Review, and Forbes. For a brief period in the early 1980s, he even contributed to The Sun at the personal urging of Rupert Murdoch, who, in a rather optimistic turn, asked him to "raise its tone a bit."

Johnson emerged as a notable critic of modernity, largely due to what he perceived as its inherent moral relativism. He vehemently objected to those who, in his view, misappropriated Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to justify their atheism, specifically naming figures like Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker. He also expressed strong disapproval of the application of evolutionary theory to promote biotechnological experimentation. As a staunch conservative Catholic, Johnson considered liberation theology to be a heresy and was a vocal defender of clerical celibacy. However, in a departure from many of his conservative Catholic contemporaries, he saw numerous compelling reasons for the ordination of women as priests, demonstrating a surprising, if narrow, progressive stance within his religious framework.

Admired by conservatives in the United States and elsewhere, Johnson was an unshakeable anticommunist. He notably defended Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal, arguing that Nixon's cover-up was considerably less egregious than Bill Clinton's perjury or Oliver North's involvement in the Iran–Contra affair. In his Spectator column, Johnson extended his defense to his friend Jonathan Aitken during his legal troubles. Perhaps more controversially, he expressed admiration for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, and a more "limited" admiration for the Spanish fascist dictator Francisco Franco, positions that, predictably, drew considerable criticism and cemented his reputation as a provocateur.

Johnson actively participated in the campaign, spearheaded by Norman Lamont, to prevent Pinochet's extradition to Spain following his 1998 arrest in London. In 1999, Johnson was quoted as confidently stating, "There have been countless attempts to link him to human rights atrocities, but nobody has provided a single scrap of evidence." A claim that, to anyone with even a passing familiarity with the historical record, would appear profoundly disconnected from reality.

In his 2008 book, Heroes, Johnson reiterated his long-standing assertion that criticism of Pinochet's dictatorship on human rights grounds originated from "the Soviet Union, whose propaganda machine successfully demonised [Pinochet] among the chattering classes all over the world. It was the last triumph of the KGB before it vanished into history's dustbin." A rather convenient narrative, if one chooses to ignore the actual victims and international human rights organizations.

On the subject of European politics, Johnson described France as "a republic run by bureaucratic and party elites, whose errors are dealt with by strikes, street riots and blockades" rather than a true democracy. He was a staunch Eurosceptic, playing a prominent role in the "No" campaign during the 1975 referendum on whether Britain should remain within the European Economic Community (EC). In 2010, Johnson articulated his long-held concerns about European integration, noting that "you can't have a common currency without a common financial policy, and you can't have that without a common government. The three things are interconnected. So this [European integration] was entirely foreseeable. Not much careful thought and judgment goes into the EU. It's entirely run by bureaucrats." A perspective that, for better or worse, found considerable traction in later British political discourse.

Personal life

In 1958, Paul Johnson entered into marriage with Marigold Hunt, a psychotherapist and a former Labour Party parliamentary candidate. Marigold was the daughter of Thomas Hunt, a distinguished physician who served notable political figures such as Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, and Anthony Eden. The couple had four children: three sons and one daughter. Their sons include Daniel Johnson, who followed his father into journalism, becoming a freelance writer, editor of Standpoint magazine, and previously an associate editor of The Daily Telegraph; and Luke Johnson, a successful businessman and former chairman of Channel 4. Their daughter, Sophie Johnson-Clark, forged a career as an independent television executive, while their youngest son, Cosmo Johnson, became a playwright. Paul and Marigold Johnson were also grandparents to ten grandchildren. Marigold Johnson's sister, Sarah, married the journalist, former diplomat, and politician George Walden, and their daughter, Celia Walden, is married to the television presenter and former newspaper editor Piers Morgan. A rather interconnected web of media and political families, as is often the case in such circles.

The year 1998 brought a rather public revelation: Johnson had maintained an eleven-year affair with Gloria Stewart, a freelance journalist. Stewart, it was reported, recorded their encounters in his study "at the behest of a British tabloid." Initially, she claimed her motivation for making the affair public was her objection to Johnson's perceived hypocrisy regarding religion and family values. However, she later conceded that the affair had actually ended when Johnson "found another girlfriend," perhaps shedding a more pragmatic, if less morally righteous, light on the disclosure.

Beyond his writing, Johnson was an enthusiastic watercolourist, a private pursuit that offered a contrast to his often pugnacious public persona. He was also a friend of the acclaimed playwright Tom Stoppard, who dedicated his 1978 play, Night and Day, to him. Paul Johnson passed away peacefully at his home in London on 12 January 2023, at the age of 94, leaving behind a vast body of work and an equally vast collection of opinions.

Public lectures

In 1985, Johnson was given the honor of delivering the inaugural Erasmus Lecture, thereby launching the annual lecture series sponsored by First Things magazine and the Institute on Religion and Public Life. His address, provocatively titled “An Almost Chosen People,” delved into the moral and religious character of the United States. In it, he explored how American history and its political landscape have been, in his view, profoundly shaped by a persistent sense of divine mission. As the very first Erasmus Lecture, Johnson's presentation set the tone and established the tradition for the series, which continues to invite prominent writers, scholars, and public intellectuals to reflect on the intricate relationships between faith, culture, and the moral dimensions of public life. A rather fitting topic for a man who often saw the world through a lens of moral judgment.

Honours

In a gesture of transatlantic appreciation, Johnson was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then U.S. President George W. Bush in 2006. A decade later, in recognition of his extensive "services to literature," Johnson was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours. It seems his prolific output and often controversial opinions were deemed worthy of official commendation.

Partial bibliography

This list is incomplete; one could, theoretically, contribute by adding missing items. (January 2023)

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Johnson's extensive collection of books is systematically categorized by subject or type for easier navigation. Unless otherwise specified, the country of publication is the United Kingdom.

Anthologies, polemics and contemporary history

  • Johnson, Paul Bede; Abel-Smith, Brian; Calder, Nigel; Hoggart, Richard; Jones, Mervyn; Marris, Peter; Murdoch, Iris; Shore, Peter; Thomas, Hugh; Townsend, Peter; Williams, Raymond (1957), "A Sense of Outrage", in Mackenzie, Norman Ian (ed.), Conviction, London: MacGibbon & Kee, pp. 202–17. A collection from his earlier, more left-leaning days, perhaps.
  • Johnson, Paul Bede (1957), The Suez War, London: MacGibbon & Kee. His initial foray into historical analysis.
  • ——— (1958), Journey into Chaos, Western Policy in the Middle East, London: MacGibbon & Kee. Delving into the complexities of international relations, no doubt with strong opinions.
  • ——— (1971), Statesmen and Nations, Sidgwick & Jackson. An anthology of his New Statesman articles, offering a retrospective glimpse into his evolving thought from the 1950s and 1960s.
  • ——— (1977), Enemies of Society, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. A title that rather clearly signals his later conservative leanings and concerns about societal decay.
  • ——— (1980), The Recovery of Freedom, Mainstream, Basil Blackwell. A manifesto for his vision of liberty, one can assume.
  • ——— (1981), Davis, William (ed.), The Best of Everything – Animals, Business, Drink, Travel, Food, Literature, Medicine, Playtime, Politics, Theatre, Young World, Art, Communications, Law and Crime, Films, Pop Culture, Sport, Women's Fashion, Men's Fashion, Music, Military – contributor. A rather exhaustive list, suggesting a man with an opinion on, well, everything.
  • ——— (1985), The Pick of Paul Johnson, Harrap. Presumably, his own curated selection of his most insightful (or perhaps most provocative) writings.
  • ——— (1991) [1986], The Oxford Book of Political Anecdotes (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press. A collection of amusing, or perhaps merely illustrative, political stories.
  • ——— (1988), Intellectuals: From Marx and Tolstoy to Sartre and Chomsky, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. A critical examination of figures he likely saw as progenitors of modern intellectual malaise.
  • 1994 The Quotable Paul Johnson A Topical Compilation of His Wit, Wisdom and Satire (George J. Marlin, Richard P. Rabatin, Heather Higgins (Editors)) 1994 Noonday Press/1996 Atlantic Books (US). Because, naturally, his wit and wisdom needed to be compiled.
  • 1994 Wake Up Britain – a Latter-day Pamphlet Weidenfeld & Nicolson. A call to arms, or perhaps just a grumble, about the state of the nation.
  • 1996 To Hell with Picasso & Other Essays: Selected Pieces from "The Spectator" Weidenfeld & Nicolson. A title that perfectly encapsulates his often contrarian and unapologetically conservative views on art and culture.
  • 2009 Churchill (biography), 192 pp. A concise biography of a figure many conservatives hold in high esteem.
  • 2012 Darwin: Portrait of a genius (Viking, 176 pages). An exploration of Darwin, likely filtered through Johnson's own complex views on evolution and faith.

Art and architecture

  • 1980: British Cathedrals, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 0-297-77828-5. A visual and historical appreciation of architectural grandeur.
  • 1993: Gerald Laing : Portraits Thomas Gibson, Fine Art Ltd (with Gerald Laing & David Mellor MP). A venture into contemporary art, perhaps a rare moment of approval.
  • 1999: Julian Barrow's London, Fine Art Society. Documenting the city through an artist's eye.
  • 2003: Art: A New History, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. A comprehensive, and undoubtedly opinionated, survey of art history.

History

  • 1972: The Offshore Islanders: England's People from Roman Occupation to the Present/to European Entry [1985 edn as History of the English People; 1998 edn as Offshore Islanders: A History of the English People], Weidenfeld & Nicolson. A sweeping narrative of British history, a fitting subject for a self-proclaimed popular historian.
  • 1974: Elizabeth I: A Study in Power and Intellect, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Examining a monarch who arguably embodied both.
  • 1974: The Life and Times of Edward III, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. A dive into medieval English history.
  • 1976: Civilizations of the Holy Land, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. A study of ancient cultures with profound religious significance.
  • 1976: A History of Christianity, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. A magnum opus, charting the course of one of the world's most enduring religions.
  • 1977: Education of an Establishment, in The World of the Public School (pp. 13–28), edited by George MacDonald Fraser, Weidenfeld & Nicolson/St Martins Press (US edition). An insider's perspective on the institutions that shaped the British elite.
  • 1978: The Civilization of Ancient Egypt, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Exploring another foundational civilization.
  • 1981: Ireland: A Concise History from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day [as ...Land of Troubles, 1980, Eyre Methuen] Granada. A concise, yet undoubtedly fraught, history of a nation defined by its struggles.
  • 1983: A History of the Modern World from 1917 to the 1980s, Weidenfeld & Nicolson – Paperback. A broad historical overview of the tumultuous 20th century.
  • 1983: Modern Times: A History of the World from the 1920s to the 1980s, Weidenfeld & Nicolson [later, ...Present Time and ...Year 2000 2005 ed], Weidenfeld & Nicolson – Hardcover. Another grand narrative, covering the modern era with Johnson's distinct perspective.
  • 1986: The Oxford Book of Political Anecdotes, Oxford University Press (editor). A collection he curated, no doubt reflecting his own historical interests.
  • 1987: Gold Fields A Centenary Portrait, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. A corporate history, perhaps a diversion from his usual subjects.
  • 1987: A History of the Jews, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. A significant work exploring the enduring history of the Jewish people.
  • 1991: The Birth of the Modern: World Society 1815–1830, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 978-1-78-022714-6. Examining the foundational period of the contemporary world.
  • 1997: A History of the American People, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 0-06-093034-9. A sweeping account of American history, written from a British conservative viewpoint.
  • 2000: The Renaissance: A Short History, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. A concise exploration of a pivotal period in European history.
  • 2002: Napoleon, Viking. A biography of one of history's most iconic and controversial figures.
  • 2005: George Washington: The Founding Father (Eminent Lives Series), Atlas Books. Another American historical figure, viewed through Johnson's lens.
  • 2006: Creators: From Chaucer and Durer to Picasso and Disney, HarperCollins Publishers (US), ISBN 0-06-019143-0. A broad survey of creative genius across centuries and disciplines.
  • 2007: Heroes: From Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar to Churchill and De Gaulle, HarperCollins Publishers (US), ISBN 978-0-06-114316-8, 0-06-114316-2. A collection of figures Johnson admired, offering insight into his own values and historical judgments.
  • 2010: Humorists: From Hogarth to Noel Coward, HarperCollins Publishers (US), ISBN 978-0-06-182591-0. An exploration of comedic figures, perhaps reflecting his own dry wit.
  • 2011: Socrates: A Man For Our Times, Viking (US). A philosophical exploration of an ancient figure, deemed relevant to contemporary issues.

Memoirs

  • 2004: The Vanished Landscape: A 1930s Childhood in the Potteries, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 978-0-7538-1933-3. A personal reflection on his early life, offering a rare glimpse behind the public persona.
  • 2010: Brief Lives, Hutchinson. More personal recollections, concisely presented.

Novels

  • 1959: Left of Centre, MacGibbon & Kee ["Left of Centre describes the meeting of a Complacent Young Man with an Angry Old City"]. An early novel, perhaps foreshadowing his own ideological journey.
  • 1964: Merrie England, MacGibbon & Kee. The novel famously, and rather accurately, lambasted by The New York Times.

Religion

  • 1975: Pope John XXIII Hutchinson. A biography of a pivotal figure in modern Catholicism.
  • 1977: A History of Christianity, Weidenfeld & Nicolson /1976, Simon & Schuster /Atheneum (US), ISBN 0-684-81503-6 (S&S Touchstone division paperback edition published in 1995). His definitive work on the subject, reflecting his deep personal faith.
  • 1982: Pope John Paul II and the Catholic Restoration, St Martins Press. Documenting the papacy of a highly influential figure.
  • 1996: The Quest for God: A Personal Pilgrimage, Weidenfeld & Nicolson/HarperCollins (US). A more intimate exploration of his own spiritual journey.
  • 1997: The Papacy, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. A historical overview of the institution itself.
  • 2010: Jesus: A Biography From a Believer, Penguin Books. A biographical account of Christ, written from a position of faith.

Travel

  • 1913: The Highland Jaunt, Collins (with George Gale). An exploration of Scotland, perhaps a more leisurely pursuit.
  • 1974: A Place in History: Places & Buildings of British History, Omega [Thames TV (UK) tie-in]. Connecting physical locations with historical narratives.
  • 1978: National Trust Book of British Castles, Granada Paperback [1992, Weidenfeld edn as Castles of England, Scotland And Wales]. A detailed look at the defensive architecture of Britain.
  • 1984: The Aerofilms Book of London from the Air, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. A unique perspective on the capital city.