Philip Guedalla was an English barrister, and a popular historical and travel writer and biographer. His wit and epigrams are well-known, one example being "Even reviewers read a Preface," another being "History repeats itself. Historians repeat each other." He also was the originator of a now-common theory on Henry James, writing that "The work of Henry James has always seemed divisible by a simple dynastic arrangement into three reigns: James I, James II, and the Old Pretender".
Family and education
Guedalla was born in Maida Vale, London, into a secular Jewish family of Spanish origin; in later life he embraced his Jewish identity. He was educated at Rugby School and Balliol College, Oxford, where he in 1911 was the President of the Oxford Union; and was published in Oxford Poetry 1910–1913. In 1919 he married Nellie Maude Reitlinger, the daughter of a banker. They never had children. Asked how to say his name, he told The Literary Digest "My own pronunciation is gwuh-dal'lah. I have very little doubt that this is wholly incorrect."
Guedalla was a parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Party five times, always unsuccessfully. He first stood for Parliament as a Liberal at the 1922 general election in Hackney North in a straight fight with the incumbent ConservativeSir Walter Greene, MP. Greene held the seat with a majority of 4,615 votes. At the 1923 general election Guedalla was adopted as Liberal candidate for the Derbyshire North East constituency. This looked as if it might be a winnable seat for the Liberals as at the general election of 1922 the Liberal candidate Stanley Holmes had come within 15 votes of taking the seat from Labour in a three-cornered contest. Despite the boost the Liberals had received in the run-up to the 1923 general election with the reunion of the Lloyd George and Asquithian wings of the party, Guedalla was unable to gain Derbyshire North East and fell to the foot of the poll behind the Conservatives. He tried again in Derbyshire North East at the 1924 general election but again came third behind the Tories in a three-cornered fight. Guedalla next attempted to enter the House of Commons as Liberal candidate for Manchester Rusholme at the 1929 general election. This had been a Liberal seat between 1923 and 1924 having been held by Charles Masterman a former Liberal Cabinet minister. Guedalla maintained second place behind the sitting Tory MP Sir Frank Boyd Merriman but was unable to regain the seat. At the 1931 general election Guedalla moved constituencies again, this time to nearby Manchester Withington. This was a Liberal seat, held between 1923–1924 and 1929-1931 by Ernest Simon. However, in the summer of 1931 an economic crisis led to the formation of a National Government led by prime ministerRamsay MacDonald supported by a small number of National Labour MPs and initially backed by the Conservative and Liberal parties. In many constituencies the main opposition party to Labour simply assumed the mantle of the Coalition government but in Manchester the Conservative and Liberal parties could not work together to agree an electoral pact, even in the unique circumstances of the national emergency. So Guedalla found himself opposed by Edward Fleming for the Conservatives who won the seat comfortably with a majority of 14,718. In 1936 he was elected to serve on the Liberal Party Council.
Death
Guedalla died in hospital in London on 16 December 1944 at age 55, having contracted an illness during his service in the RAF.
''Sleuth'' reference
In the play Sleuth by Anthony Shaffer, mystery writer Andrew Wyke says, "Do you agree that the detective story is the normal recreation of noble minds? I'm quoting from Philip Guedalla, a biographer of the thirties, that golden age when every Cabinet Minister had a thriller by his bedside and all detectives were titled."
Works
Ignes Fatui - A Book of Parodies
essays
The Secret of the Coup d'État: Unpublished Correspondence of Prince Louis Napoleon, MM. De Morny, De Flahault, and Others, 1848-1852 with the Earl of Kerry
