George VI in cartoons: the king vanishes

ABSTRACT

This article examines the depiction of George VI in cartoons. These important hybrid journalistic/artistic forms reflect a subtle shift in understandings of the monarchy, from emphasising the individual personality of the incumbent (e.g. Edward VIII), towards a focus on the crown as an impersonal institution, symbolic of Britishness. Prince Albert’s low profile prior to his accession continued as a vehicle for the new manner of imagining the monarch in cartooning. Symbols of office, national and imperial allegories of monarchy, became more common in cartoons than depictions of George’s own features. Comparison to non-British cartoons underscores the findings of the research.     

Norman Gash and the Making of Mr Secretary Peel

In May 1961, the firm of Longmans published the first volume of Norman Gash's monumental life of Sir Robert Peel. Mr Secretary Peel: The Life of Sir Robert Peel before 1830 was hailed at the time as a landmark and has proved surprisingly durable as an interpretation of Peel's early life and formation. This essay is concerned with locating Gash's work within its political, biographical, and historiographical context. It begins by considering the reaction of Peel family members to Gash's biography, before tracing the antecedents of his historical preoccupations and intellectual development in the years leading up to the publication of Mr Secretary Peel. It presents a wide range of new evidence relating to Gash's life and emergence as a political and parliamentary historian, drawing upon sources which have come to light in the decade since his death in May 2009.