A Very English Scandal Now a Major BBC Series Starring Hugh Grant
Produktdetaljer
Om bidragsyterne
John Preston is a former Arts Editor of the Evening Standard and the Sunday Telegraph. For ten years he was the Sunday Telegraph's television critic and one of its chief feature writers. His novel, The Dig, based on the 1939 archaeological excavation at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, has been filmed starring Ralph Fiennes, Carey Mulligan and Lily James. His first nonfiction book, A Very English Scandal, was published to great acclaim in 2016 and turned into BAFTA-winning BBC drama series. His latest book Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell was published to great acclaim in February 2021. It has been shortlisted for both the Baillie Gifford Prize and the Costa Biography Prize and is being adapted for television by Working Title productions.<b>The shocking true story of the first British politician to stand trial for murder</b>
Publisher's description
<b>This is a brilliant, sad, startling nonfiction novel</b> about the Jeremy Thorpe murder-plot scandal. It is as funny and dark as anything by Evelyn Waugh or Jonathan Coe. And in these post Cyril Smith/Jimmy Saville days, it's so <b>timely and relevant</b>
Jon Ronson
<b>A terrific book and brilliantly researched. </b>John Preston writes wonderful dead-pan prose and reveals the depths of depravity, the absurd power of snobbery and the old boy networks of the time
- Claire Tomalin,
A brilliant exploration of an extraordinary political scandal... deeply researched, fluently written, and darkly comic,<b> it reads like a thriller</b>
- Ben Macintyre,
<b>I loved it; eccentric, dark, humane and English in the very best sense.</b> It's going to be a sure fire-hit
- Alain de Botton,
<b>The most forensic, elegantly written, compelling account</b> of one of the 20th century's great political scandals... a real page-turner'
Observer
<b>Very funny and endlessly extraordinary</b>... makes for amazing reading
- Catherine Shoard, Guardian
Impeccably researched... <b>full of shocks, surprises and laugh-out-loud moments. </b>Preston revives a forgotten era and delves into the personalities behind the headlines.
Times Crime Club
<b>Retold with masterful skill... It grips like a detective story</b>, as compelling as BBC2's <i>Life of Duty</i> and every bit as dirty in what it exposes about the upper echelons of society in the Sixties and Seventies
Daily Mail Book of the Week
This <b>brilliant account</b> made me feel I was hearing the tale for the first time ... Preston is <b>an enthralling narrator</b>
Mail on Sunday
<b>Gripping</b> ... cack-handed assassins, buffoonish policemen, dodgy Home secretaries and sozzled judges. <b>The conclusion of an Establishment cover-up is hard to avoid</b>
Daily Telegraph
<b>The unbelievable truth... </b>Preston is a natural storyteller ... he provides the context for actions that seem unbelievable today
The Times
<b>Wonderfully readable</b> ... <b>John Preston is the ideal author</b>, having researched for years many minor characters and talked to dozens of well-known political and literary friends and enemies of Thorpe
Standpoint
<b>Fluent, readable</b> ... <b>a vivid tableau</b> of the players in Thorpe's long, tragic downfall
Evening Standard
I spent a <b>thrilling</b> 48 hours reading it. <b>The narrative is so vivid, the characterisation so brilliant</b>... I thought I knew all about these events, but the full horror of them has only now become apparent
- Antonia Fraser,
<b>A gripping account</b> of the Jeremy Thorpe case. The details <b>make one laugh out loud or gasp with amazement</b>
- Charles Moore, Spectator
<b>The whole affair is retold here compellingly and fluently</b>, bringing to life the cast of characters with some verve
The i
Nothing comes close to the eyepopping outrageousness of the gay murder shenanigans that engulfed and almost destroyed a Liberal leader. <b>Reads like a comic thriller</b>
- Rachel Johnson,
<b>A wonderful, wonderful read</b>
- Nick Robinson, BBC Today Programme,