Paperback. Navy and white cover with blue title.

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The role of women in our society has changed out of all recognition. But it has changed the least in the House of Commons. I want to describe those changes and the resistances to them through the magnifying glass of my own life, a life that coincides with our turbulent post-war history.’

Shirley Williams was born to politics. As well as being influenced by her mother, Vera Brittian, her father George Caitlin, a leading political scientist, encouraged his daughter to have high ambitions for herself – including daring to climb the bookshelves in his library. Elected as MP for Hitchin in 1964, she was a member of the Wilson and Callaghan governments and was also the Secretary of State for Education. As one of the ‘Gang of Four’ Shirley Williams famously broke away from the Labour Party to found the SDP in 1981 and later supported its merger with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats.

CLIMBING THE BOOKSHELVES is the voice of strong and passionate woman of luminous intelligence.

Review: I prioritised reading this book after being unable to hear a talk by her at the Edinburgh Book Festival last year. Being a cheapskate, I dallied until the paperback came out. Politically, I am slightly to the left of the author, but have noted since the Coalition Government of 1 years standing, she has been one of the few to engage critically and in cases oppose the policies that were / are being enacted.

I remember first hearing of her around the formation of the SDP. I also remember hearing the term ‘Gang of Four’ and not realising until many years later, where it was borrowed from. I was also aware of her being Vera Brittain’s daughter, though not actually having read ‘ A Testament of Youth’. Perhaps worthy of reconsideration.

She considers herself to be on the moderate democratic left, a label also claimed by Blair, who, in my view, isn’t. The book documents her struggles with the far left of the Labour party and how that led to the creation of the SDP. Now, in the Liberal Democrats, she is definitely on the left of that party and generally referred to as such in the political media and maybe even perceived by some in the ranks as one of the ‘troublemakers’.

Certainly there is a huge amount of ground of cover. I personally did not mind that there was not so much personal information at the outset regarding her family. What was there, was included to give a sense of where she came from, and how the journey started for her politically. Did she see her politics as different from her mother? She never says and in line with another review, I think this is an unfortunate omission.

The sense of privilege came through – should she have been more humble about that? The plethora of famous and well connected people that she came into contact with from childhood onwards, cannot have done her any harm, in the early days of her political career. Being a woman with talent and motivation was never going to be enough. I don’t necessarily criticise her for it, for I think it might have been alluded to more. But yes, certainly worth reading, despite these two quibbles. I finished reading it at 5. 30 this morning. No regrets and no time wasted. Make your own mind up but definitely give it a go.

NOTE: This is an original  book from the library gathered by the famous Cambridge Don, computer scientist, food and wine connoisseur, Jack Arnold LANG. Note: Jack founded the Michelin Guide ‘Midsummer House’- Cambridge’s paramount restaurant. This dining experience is hidden amongst the grassy pastures and grazing cattle of Midsummer Common and perched on the banks of the River Cam. 

In 2008, Jack was one of the co-founders of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, alongside other members of the Department, and acted as the Foundation’s Chair. The project’s original goals were modest: to build and distribute low-cost computers for prospective applicants to our Computer Science degree. Initially the project was a “success disaster”, as Jack would say, as demand far outstripped the low-scale manufacturing plans. Ultimately the Raspberry Pi became the UK’s most successful computer with more than 60 million sold to date. Jack was drawn to the educational possibilities of the Raspberry Pi, its potential uses in emerging economies and the way it could support self-directed learning.