Undocumented history, adventure story, is brilliantly told

The Glamour Boys Author: Chris Bryant Publisher: Bloomsbury RRP: $29.99 Reviewer: Mary Ann Elliott

IN The Glamour Boys, Chris Bryant brings to light the remarkable, and in many cases, heroic contribution of gay MPs to Britain’s involvement in World War ll.

Bryant is the Labour MP for Rhondda in the current British parliament, and gay.

His book offers a detailed and engrossing account of the 10 gay members of parliament who took an increasingly forthright stand against Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasing the German, Italian and Spanish dictators of the interwar years.

In doing this, they risked their careers and in some cases, their lives in battle.

Bryant contends that “had it not been for the Glamour Boys’ campaign against Chamberlain we would never have fought, let alone won, the Second World War.” A strong claim indeed, but borne out in this fascinating, adventurous true story which highlights the courage of these men in adopting an unpopular stance in parliament, standing as MPs at a time when homosexuality was savagely punished.

In fact, the 17-strong Glamour Boys, as the anti-appeasement faction in the Commons were dubbed by

Chamberlain, were by no means all gay.

They included Harold Macmillan, Anthony Eden, Duncan Sandys, Leo Amery and, of course, Winston Churchill.

Bryant’s queer group of 10 were Robert Boothby, Harold Nicolson, Rob Bernays, Victor Cazalet, Harry Crookshank, Jack Macnamara, Ronnie Cartland (brother of novelist Barbara), Ronnie Tree, Philip Sassoon and Jim Thomas. This talented group was for the most part Conservatives but at times crossed the floor to support the anti-appeasement lobby.

From the moment Hitler came to power in 1933, the Glamour Boys saw clearly that war was inevitable and with increasing directness, said so, incurring the scorn both of their fellow parliamentarians and of the heavily pro-appeasement press. Many of them had visited Germany before the Nazis came to power and were aghast at Hitler’s territorial ambitions and his treatment of political prisoners and above all, of Jews,

They all, to a greater or lesser degree, piled pressure on the government, who in the face of Hitler’s blatant warmongering finally had to concede that he could be appeased no longer. Largely unknown, the brave “Glamour Boys” are commemorated in a carved memorial behind the Speaker’s chair in parliament. Here is an important piece of largely undocumented history brilliantly told. It is also a suspenseful adventure story that will have you on the edge of your seat.