James Louis Garvin - Later Years

Later Years

In 1921, Garvin moved from London to Beaconsfield. From there, in a home once owned by Edmund Burke's agent he continued to edit The Observer, and he began work on a biography of his hero Joseph Chamberlain. Though three volumes of the Chamberlain biography were published in the early 1930s, Garvin never wrote the final fourth volume, and the project was completed after his death by Julian Amery. During this period Garvin also served as editor-in-chief of the fourteenth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1926–1932).

Yet Garvin's stature as a man of letters masked his declining influence during this period. Working from Beaconsfield cut him off from much of the political life of the British capital. A new generation of British politicians emerged with whom Garvin had few connections. Alarmed by Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany, he pushed for a program of rearmament. He also became an advocate of appeasement, both of Hitler in order to buy time for rearmament, and Benito Mussolini in an effort to win the Italian leader's support for an alliance.

Saddened by the outbreak of war in September 1939, Garvin nonetheless was a strong supporter of the war effort. Heartened by Churchill's return to the Admiralty, Garvin offered unflinching support for his old friend after he became Prime Minister in May 1940. Such support created a rift between Garvin and Astor. Though the two had been of like mind regarding appeasement, Astor opposed the concentration of war powers in Churchill's hands. Adding to the tension was Astor's son David, whose attempts to inject a more liberal tone into the newspaper were viewed by Garvin as an effort to criticize the Prime Minister. As a result, when Garvin published an editorial in February 1942 in support of Churchill remaining in office as Minister of Defence as well as Prime Minister, the Astors viewed it as a breach of their contract and requested Garvin's resignation.

Garvin quickly received an offer from Lord Beaverbrook to write a weekly column for his newspaper the Sunday Express. Switching to the Daily Telegraph in January 1945, Garvin continued to write a weekly column until just prior to his death from pneumonia at the age of 78.