Product Description

A portrait both of an extraordinary individual, Diana Mosley (one of the six Mitford sisters) and the terrible world of political extremism in the 1930s. The death of her husband, fascist leader Oswald Mosley, left her unquestioning and still refusing to believe the reality of the Holocaust.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #595209 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 95 pages

About the Author
Anne De Courcy is a well-known biographer, journalist, interviewer and reviewer. She lives in London.

Customer Reviews

A clear picture of a complex person
In this book, Anne de Courcy manages two remarkable feats. The first is that she found something new to say about the much-discussed Mitfords. The second is that she has given us a fresh and unbiased view of a controversial subject. The fact that Diana cooperated with her biographer deserves a mention; that in itself is remarkable.

The problem with Diana Mosley is that she was, as a person, highly intelligent, fascinating and attractive - but her political views were, and are, repellant. Anne de Courcy does not try to explain away Diana's views, sweep them under the carpet, or attempt to justify them. She simply presents the facts, with enough background information to put them in context.

This book is a gripping read - I read it at one sitting - and it is remarkable for the balanced view it presents. The appendices are also valuable additions to the main text. The biographer does not force the reader to accept her conclusions about Diana; there is enough information here for the reader to make his or her own judgement on the complex person that was Diana Mosley.

A very sad story
Diana Mosley had everything going for her - radiant beauty, wealth, family connections, intelligence, charm... but she didn't use these assets to her own advantage. In fact, I think her life became sad and tragic through her ghastly involvement with Hitler and the Nazi movement. This doesn't make her any less a fascinating woman but one feels she could have had such a different life. Anne de Courcy presents all the spell-binding twists and turns of her life - marriage to one of the wealthiest men in Britain, divorce, life with Mosley, the horrible treason of her own sister Nancy, imprisonment, and her bravery in old age - in a riveting biography.

A Fascinating Book
Anne de Courcy has penned a fascinating account of the life of Diana Mosley. Her early life with her extraordinary sisters, the Mitford girls and her even more eccentric parents - Lord Redesdale's apocalyptic rages are wonderfully described - display the enormous amount of sheer hard work which Anne de Courcy has invested into the work.

Not that Diana Mosley emerges from the book with any great credit; her political views have put paid to that. And her first husband, Bryan Guinness, is portrayed as a consummate drip, poor fellow. But then, this is not a book about necessarily nice people; it is an honest book and the author has quite ruthlessly delved into every nook and cranny to pluck out every bit of information to ensure that the biography of one of England's most extraordinary women, is utterly first-rate.