HEAD OF THE CIVIL SERVICE: A STUDY OF SIR WARREN FISHER by Eunan O'Halpin. Routledge, 1989, £35.00
| Published date | 01 March 1990 |
| DOI | 10.1177/095207679000500109 |
| Date | 01 March 1990 |
| Author | Richard A. Chapman |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
74
light
on
its
operation.
As
in
so
many
respects,
Scotland
seems
to
have
largely
followed
the
English
pattern
at
a
distance
of
some
decades.
Apart
from .
educational
administration
in
Scotland,
there
appears
to
be
little
evidence
conforming
to
the
’conventional
wisdom’
in
the
period
prior
to
the
First
World
War.
But,
arguably,
neither
was
there the
’institutionalisation’
of
relations
which
Bellamy
found
in
England.
The
work
is
thoroughly
researched
using
a
wide
range
of
primary
and
secondary
papers
throughout.
A
striking
feature
of
the
bibliography
is
the
apparent
lack
of
unpublished
theses
on
related
subject-matter.
Though
Bellamy
has
provided
a
notable
contribution
much
more
could
be
written
and
should
be
researched
on
this
subject,
especially
in
light
of
the
relevance
to
contemporary
issues.
Though
the
writing
style
could
have
been
improved
in
places,
it
is
an
important
contribution
to
the
study
of
public
administration.
James
Mitchell,
Department
of
Government,
Strathclyde
University.
HEAD
OF
THE
CIVIL
SERVICE:
A
STUDY
OF
SIR
WARREN
FISHER
by
Eunan
O’Halpin.
Routledge,
1989,
£35.00
Sir
Warren
Fisher
was
one
of
the
architects
of
the
British
Civil
Service.
His
contribution
to
its
structure,
standards
and
traditions,
and
its
development
as
a
single
service,
is
to
be
compared
with
that
of
Northcote
and
Trevelyan
in
the
nineteenth
century.
His
work
in
these
respects
was
continued
by
Edward
Bridges
in
the
mid-twentieth
century.
It
is
unlikely
that
conditions
will
ever
again
enable
individuals
like
these
to
make
such
personal
impacts
on
the
administration
of
British
central
government.
However,
the
significance
of
the
contributions
of
Fisher
and
Bridges,
their
methods
of
work,
and
the
details
of
their
personalities
in
their
official
work,
have,
until
recently,
been
largely
concealed
behind
the
curtain
of
official
secrecy.
Eunan
O’Halpin,
in his
study
of
Warren
Fisher
as
Head
of
the
Civil.Service,
has
done
some
sterling
work
in
sifting
through
the
evidence
from
many
published
and
unpublished
sources
and
in
writing
up
his
findings
in
the
form
of
a
straightforward
historical
narrative.
The
first
question
that
potential
readers
are
likely
to
ask
is:
what
sort
of
bureaucratic leader
was
Fisher
and
how
did
he
achieve
and
maintain
his
position
of
eminence
as
Head
of
the
Civil
Service
from
1919
to
1939?
Eunan
O’Halpin
shows
that
Fisher
worked
hard
for
long
hours
(the
fact
that
he
lived
alone,
because
his
marriage
ended
with
a
formal
separation
in
1921,
may
be
relevant
in
this
context);
he
was
a
man
of
modest
academic
achievements;
he
was
not
reticent
in
giving
advice
to
his
political
masters,
even
though
his
advice
was
usually
sensitively
and/or
flatteringly
presented,
and
also
often
appeared
to
be
commonsense;
he
was
intensely
patriotic
and
dedicated
to
his
own
clear
conception
of
national
honour
and
the
national
interest;
he
insisted
on
the
highest
standards
of
conduct
of
public
officials;
he
had
few
interests
outside
the
civil
service;
and,
perhaps
above
all,
he
clearly
achieved
satisfaction
from
his
powerful
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