The Problem Of Power: The Reith Lectures 1951

London: Secker And Warburg, 1952. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Fine/Very Good. Xvi, 110 Pp. Blue Cloth, Gilt. First Printing. Book Fine, Gilt Brilliant, No Marks. Dust Jacket Priced 8S6d, Light Usage, Small Losses At Corners, Long Closed Tear On Front Panel. Cyril John Radcliffe, 1St Viscount Radcliffe, (1899 -1977) Was A British Lawyer And Law Lord Best Known For His Role In The Partition Of India. His Maternal Grandfather Was President Of The Law Society Between 1890 And 1891. He Practiced At The Chancery Bar, And Was Appointed A King's Counsel In 1935. During World War Ii, Radcliffe Joined The Ministry Of Information Becoming Its Director-General By 1941, Where He Worked Closely With The Minister Brendan Bracken. In 1944 He Was Made A Knight Commander Of The Order Of The British Empire (Kbe). He Returned To The Bar In 1945. Radcliffe, A Man Who Had Never Been East Of Paris, Was Given The Chairmanship Of The Two Boundary Committees Set Up With The Passing Of The Indian Independence Act. Radcliffe Was Given The Task Of Drawing The Borders For The New Nations Of Pakistan And India In A Way That Would Leave As Many Sikhs And Hindus In India And Muslims In Pakistan As Possible. He Was Given Only 5 Weeks To Complete The Job. Radcliffe Submitted His Partition Map On 9 August 1947, Which Split Apart Punjab And Bengal Almost In Half. The New Boundaries Were Formally Announced On 17 August 1947 - Three Days After Pakistan's Independence And Two Days After India Became Independent Of The United Kingdom. Radcliffe's Efforts Saw Some 14 Million People - Roughly Seven Million From Each Side - Flee Across The Border When They Discovered The New Boundaries Left Them In The "Wrong" Country. In The Violence That Ensued After Independence, Estimates Of Loss Of Life Accompanying Or Preceding The Partition Vary Between Several Hundred Thousand And Two Million,[4][A] And Millions More Were Injured. After Seeing The Mayhem Occurring On Both Sides Of The Boundary, Radcliffe Refused His Salary Of 40,000 Rupees (Then 3,000 Pounds). Speaking Of His Experience As The Chairman Of Boundary Committees, He Later Said- "I Had No Alternative, The Time At My Disposal Was So Short That I Could Not Do A Better Job. Given The Same Period I Would Do The Same Thing. However, If I Had Two To Three Years, I Might Have Improved On What I Did." The Poet W. H. Auden Referred To Radcliffe's Role In The Partition Of India And Pakistan In His 1966 Poem "Partition". Interestingly, No One Ever Criticized Him For Accepting This Ridiculous Job, As Of Course Loyalty, And Anticipated Loyalty To The Political Leadership Personally, Is The Unspoken But Primary Requirement For Service In A Democracy. In 1949, Radcliffe Was Made A Lord Of Appeal In Ordinary, Sworn Of The Privy Council, And Created A Life Peer As Baron Radcliffe, Of Werneth In The County Of Lancaster. Unusually, He Had Not Previously Been A Judge. In The 1940S And 1950S He Chaired A String Of Public Enquiries In Addition To His Legal Duties And Continued To Hold Numerous Trusteeships, Governorships And Chairmanships Right Up Until His Death. He Chaired The Committee Of Enquiry Into The Future Of The British Film Institute (1948), Whose Recommendations Led To The Modernisation Of The Bfi In The Post-War Period. From 1957 He Was Chairman Of The Radcliffe Committee, Called To Enquire Into The Working Of The Monetary And Credit System. The Committee Published A Report Known As The Radcliffe Report Which Suggested Reforms On How Monetary Policy Is Run. He Was Also A Frequent Public Speaker And Wrote Numerous Books: He Gave The Bbc Reith Lecture In 1951 - A Series Of Seven Broadcasts Titled Power And The State Which Examined The Features Of Democratic Society, And Considered The Problematic Notions Of Power And Authority. He Also Presented The Oxford University Romanes Lecture In 1963 On Mountstuart Elphinstone. He Served As The First Chancellor Of The University Of Warwick From Its Foundation In 1965 To 1977. In 1962 He Was Made A Hereditary Peer As Viscount Radcliffe, Of Hampton Lucy.