Plugging the Leaks (Pointing the Way, 1959-1961, by Harold Macmillan)

Pointing the Way, 1959-1961 By Harold Macmillan Harper, 512 pp., $15

Harold Macmillan is now 78, a little shaky on his feet and rather lonely since his wife died, but a marvelous showman still. Like an old-fashioned actor-manager, he has a variety of favorite roles. Sometimes he plays the absent-minded aristocrat—a sort of Lord Emsworth figure; sometimes he is the unpretentious family publisher; sometimes—and he does this splendidly on television, talking about (and usefully advertising) his memoirs—he is the great statesman in retirement, contemplating the sweep of history with a detached and ironical eye. When I saw him the other day, he had just delivered the final volume of his memoirs, so perhaps he was feeling like Gibbon. He was certainly, I’m glad to report, in excellent form.

Pointing the Way, 1959-1961 By Harold Macmillan Harper, 512 pp., $15

Harold Macmillan is now 78, a little shaky on his feet and rather lonely since his wife died, but a marvelous showman still. Like an old-fashioned actor-manager, he has a variety of favorite roles. Sometimes he plays the absent-minded aristocrat—a sort of Lord Emsworth figure; sometimes he is the unpretentious family publisher; sometimes—and he does this splendidly on television, talking about (and usefully advertising) his memoirs—he is the great statesman in retirement, contemplating the sweep of history with a detached and ironical eye. When I saw him the other day, he had just delivered the final volume of his memoirs, so perhaps he was feeling like Gibbon. He was certainly, I’m glad to report, in excellent form.