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A Very English Scandal: Sex, Lies and a Murder Plot at the Heart of the Establishment
John Preston
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€ 11.57
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Description for A Very English Scandal: Sex, Lies and a Murder Plot at the Heart of the Establishment
Paperback. Num Pages: 352 pages. BIC Classification: 1DBK; 3JJPK; HBJD1; JPZ. Category: (G) General (US: Trade); (P) Professional & Vocational; (U) Tertiary Education (US: College). Dimension: 198 x 134 x 23. Weight in Grams: 258.
The shocking true story of the first British politician to stand trial for murder Behind oak-panelled doors in the House of Commons, men with cut-glass accents and gold signet rings are conspiring to murder. It's the late 1960s and homosexuality has only just been legalised, and Jeremy Thorpe, the leader of the Liberal party, has a secret he's desperate to hide. As long as Norman Scott, his beautiful, unstable lover is around, Thorpe's brilliant career is at risk. With the help of his fellow politicians, Thorpe schemes, deceives, embezzles - until he can see only one way to silence Scott for good.
Product Details
Publisher
Penguin
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2017
Condition
New
Number of Pages
352
Place of Publication
London, United Kingdom
ISBN
9780241973745
SKU
V9780241973745
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 5 to 9 working days
Ref
99-99
About John Preston
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. He is the author of a travel book and four novels. His most recent novel, The Dig, was published to great acclaim in 2007.
Reviews for A Very English Scandal: Sex, Lies and a Murder Plot at the Heart of the Establishment
A wonderful, wonderful read
Nick Robinson, BBC Today Programme Nothing comes close to the eyepopping outrageousness of the gay murder shenanigans that engulfed and almost destroyed a Liberal leader. Reads like a comic thriller
Rachel Johnson The whole affair is retold here compellingly and fluently, bringing to life the cast of characters with some verve
The i
A gripping account of the Jeremy Thorpe case. The details make one laugh out loud or gasp with amazement
Charles Moore
Spectator
I spent a thrilling 48 hours reading it. The narrative is so vivid, the characterisation so brilliant... I thought I knew all about these events, but the full horror of them has only now become apparent
Antonia Fraser Fluent, readable ... a vivid tableau of the players in Thorpe's long, tragic downfall
Evening Standard
Wonderfully readable ... John Preston is the ideal author, having researched for years many minor characters and talked to dozens of well-known political and literary friends and enemies of Thorpe
Standpoint
The unbelievable truth... Preston is a natural storyteller ... he provides the context for actions that seem unbelievable today
The Times
Gripping ... cack-handed assassins, buffoonish policemen, dodgy Home secretaries and sozzled judges. The conclusion of an Establishment cover-up is hard to avoid
Daily Telegraph
This brilliant account made me feel I was hearing the tale for the first time ... Preston is an enthralling narrator
Mail on Sunday
Retold with masterful skill... It grips like a detective story, as compelling as BBC2's Life of Duty 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
Impeccably researched... full of shocks, surprises and laugh-out-loud moments. Preston revives a forgotten era and delves into the personalities behind the headlines.
Times Crime Club
Very funny and endlessly extraordinary... makes for amazing reading
Catherine Shoard
Guardian
The most forensic, elegantly written, compelling account of one of the 20th century's great political scandals... a real page-turner'
Observer
I loved it; eccentric, dark, humane and English in the very best sense. It's going to be a sure fire-hit
Alain de Botton A brilliant exploration of an extraordinary political scandal... deeply researched, fluently written, and darkly comic, it reads like a thriller
Ben Macintyre A terrific book and brilliantly researched. 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 This is a brilliant, sad, startling nonfiction novel 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 timely and relevant
Jon Ronson
The shocking true story of the first British politician to stand trial for murder
Publisher's description
Nick Robinson, BBC Today Programme Nothing comes close to the eyepopping outrageousness of the gay murder shenanigans that engulfed and almost destroyed a Liberal leader. Reads like a comic thriller
Rachel Johnson The whole affair is retold here compellingly and fluently, bringing to life the cast of characters with some verve
The i
A gripping account of the Jeremy Thorpe case. The details make one laugh out loud or gasp with amazement
Charles Moore
Spectator
I spent a thrilling 48 hours reading it. The narrative is so vivid, the characterisation so brilliant... I thought I knew all about these events, but the full horror of them has only now become apparent
Antonia Fraser Fluent, readable ... a vivid tableau of the players in Thorpe's long, tragic downfall
Evening Standard
Wonderfully readable ... John Preston is the ideal author, having researched for years many minor characters and talked to dozens of well-known political and literary friends and enemies of Thorpe
Standpoint
The unbelievable truth... Preston is a natural storyteller ... he provides the context for actions that seem unbelievable today
The Times
Gripping ... cack-handed assassins, buffoonish policemen, dodgy Home secretaries and sozzled judges. The conclusion of an Establishment cover-up is hard to avoid
Daily Telegraph
This brilliant account made me feel I was hearing the tale for the first time ... Preston is an enthralling narrator
Mail on Sunday
Retold with masterful skill... It grips like a detective story, as compelling as BBC2's Life of Duty 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
Impeccably researched... full of shocks, surprises and laugh-out-loud moments. Preston revives a forgotten era and delves into the personalities behind the headlines.
Times Crime Club
Very funny and endlessly extraordinary... makes for amazing reading
Catherine Shoard
Guardian
The most forensic, elegantly written, compelling account of one of the 20th century's great political scandals... a real page-turner'
Observer
I loved it; eccentric, dark, humane and English in the very best sense. It's going to be a sure fire-hit
Alain de Botton A brilliant exploration of an extraordinary political scandal... deeply researched, fluently written, and darkly comic, it reads like a thriller
Ben Macintyre A terrific book and brilliantly researched. 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 This is a brilliant, sad, startling nonfiction novel 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 timely and relevant
Jon Ronson
The shocking true story of the first British politician to stand trial for murder
Publisher's description