Kingsley Martin
Encyclopedia
Basil Kingsley Martin was a British
journalist
who edited the left-leaning political magazine the New Statesman
from 1930 to 1960.
The son of a socialist and pacifist minister, Martin grew up with a strong political influence in his life. After primary school he earned a scholarship to Mill Hill School
. While still at school, Martin became liable to conscription
. Being a pacifist, he was a conscientious objector
to the war and refused to fight in it, but he did not object to serving as a medical orderly for a few months caring for wounded soldiers. He later joined, the Friends' Ambulance Unit
, and in 1918 was sent to the Western Front to serve with them.
After the war he returned to academic life at Magdalene College, Cambridge
. While studying at the college he became politically active and joined many groups such as the Union of Democratic Control
and the Fabian Society
. After obtaining his degree, Martin moved to the US to teach at Princeton University
for a year. When he returned to England, Martin was hired as a book reviewer for the journal, The Nation. His employer also used his connections to get him a teaching job at the London School of Economics
. As well as a new job, Kingsley also managed to publish one of his earlier books, The Triumph of Lord Palmerston. Kingsley remained at the LSE for three years, before he was offered a job as a leader writer at the Manchester Guardian. Martin accepted, and during his time there he published another work; French Liberal Thought in the Eighteenth Century.
He became editor of the New Statesmen in 1930, taking up the post at the beginning of 1931. With Martin as editor, the New Statesman (renamed New Statesman and Nation after absorbing The Nation
in 1931) became a significant influence on Labour politics. During this period, Martin and the Statesman were criticised for pursuing an erratic response to the regime of Stalin
in the Soviet Union. Martin was despised by George Orwell
, and Martin's
friend John Maynard Keynes
complained that in regard to Stalin's Russia, Martin was "a little too full perhaps of goodwill. When a doubt arises it is swallowed down if possible." Despite all this, the circulation of the Statesman grew from 14,000 to 80,000 over the course of Martin's thirty years in the editor's chair..
Kingsley Martin remained at the New Statesmen until 1960 when he retired. In The Crown And The Establishment, a short book published by Hutchinson in 1962, he put forward the first modern argument for British Republicanism
. In his last he published two autobiographical works; Father Figures (1966) and Editor (1968).
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
who edited the left-leaning political magazine the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
from 1930 to 1960.
The son of a socialist and pacifist minister, Martin grew up with a strong political influence in his life. After primary school he earned a scholarship to Mill Hill School
Mill Hill School
Mill Hill School, in Mill Hill, London, is a coeducational independent school for boarding and day pupils aged 13–18. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, an organisation of public schools in the United Kingdom....
. While still at school, Martin became liable to conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
. Being a pacifist, he was a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
to the war and refused to fight in it, but he did not object to serving as a medical orderly for a few months caring for wounded soldiers. He later joined, the Friends' Ambulance Unit
Friends' Ambulance Unit
The Friends' Ambulance Unit was a volunteer ambulance service, founded by individual members of the British Religious Society of Friends , in line with their Peace Testimony. The FAU operated from 1914–1919, 1939–1946 and 1946-1959 in 25 different countries around the world...
, and in 1918 was sent to the Western Front to serve with them.
After the war he returned to academic life at Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene...
. While studying at the college he became politically active and joined many groups such as the Union of Democratic Control
Union of Democratic Control
The Union of Democratic Control was a British pressure group formed in 1914 to press for a more responsive foreign policy. While not a pacifist organization, it was opposed to military influence in government.-World War I:...
and the Fabian Society
Fabian Society
The Fabian Society is a British socialist movement, whose purpose is to advance the principles of democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary, means. It is best known for its initial ground-breaking work beginning late in the 19th century and continuing up to World...
. After obtaining his degree, Martin moved to the US to teach at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
for a year. When he returned to England, Martin was hired as a book reviewer for the journal, The Nation. His employer also used his connections to get him a teaching job at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. As well as a new job, Kingsley also managed to publish one of his earlier books, The Triumph of Lord Palmerston. Kingsley remained at the LSE for three years, before he was offered a job as a leader writer at the Manchester Guardian. Martin accepted, and during his time there he published another work; French Liberal Thought in the Eighteenth Century.
He became editor of the New Statesmen in 1930, taking up the post at the beginning of 1931. With Martin as editor, the New Statesman (renamed New Statesman and Nation after absorbing The Nation
The Nation and Atheneum
The Nation and Atheneum or simply The Nation was a United Kingdom political weekly newspaper with a Liberal / Labour viewpoint. It was formed in 1921 from the merger of the Athenaeum, a literary magazine published in London since 1828 and the smaller and newer Nation.The enterprise was purchased...
in 1931) became a significant influence on Labour politics. During this period, Martin and the Statesman were criticised for pursuing an erratic response to the regime of Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
in the Soviet Union. Martin was despised by George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
, and Martin's
friend John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes, Baron Keynes of Tilton, CB FBA , was a British economist whose ideas have profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics, as well as the economic policies of governments...
complained that in regard to Stalin's Russia, Martin was "a little too full perhaps of goodwill. When a doubt arises it is swallowed down if possible." Despite all this, the circulation of the Statesman grew from 14,000 to 80,000 over the course of Martin's thirty years in the editor's chair..
Kingsley Martin remained at the New Statesmen until 1960 when he retired. In The Crown And The Establishment, a short book published by Hutchinson in 1962, he put forward the first modern argument for British Republicanism
Republicanism in the United Kingdom
Republicanism in the United Kingdom is the movement which seeks to remove the British monarchy and replace it with a republic that has a non-hereditary head of state...
. In his last he published two autobiographical works; Father Figures (1966) and Editor (1968).