The 1920s: Making a Reputation

Robertson returned to Trinity in the summer of 1919, to take up the reins of the fellowship he had won five years earlier and, with the start of the Michaelmas term, to begin at last ‘teaching in the steps of Marshall’. Whatever his doubts and speculations regarding a future career as the war drew to a close, in retrospect it is clear that he was back where he belonged. The strategy he had devised for coming to terms with his strengths and weaknesses would allow of no other outcome. Indeed, the professional and personal developments of the following decade were generally predictable on the basis of the trends discernible earlier. That is, he would make his name as an economist of the first rank and as an outstanding amateur actor; he would learn how to marry science and art to find his distinctive voice as a ‘literary economist’ his emotions would be often in turmoil as he struggled to find love; he would continue to seek escape, both as temporary relief from current pressures and, more permanently, as a means of resolving the inherent shortcomings of the compromise between duty and desire; finally, and of the utmost significance, he would continue his association with Keynes, as they embarked on a period of collaboration that would bring benefits to both.