Hugh Trevor-Roper's life is a rich subject for a biography - with elements of Greek tragedy, comedy and moments of high farce. Clever, witty and sophisticated, Trevor-Roper was the most brilliant historian of his generation. Until his downfall, he seemed to have everything: wealth and connections, a chair at Oxford, a beautiful country house, an aristocratic wife, and, eventually, a title of his own. Eloquent and versatile, fearless and formidable, he moved easily between Oxford and London, between the dreaming spires of scholarship and the jostling corridors of power. He developed a lucid prose style which he used to deadly effect. He was notorious for his acerbic attacks on other historians, but ultimately tainted his own reputation with a catastrophic error when he authenticated the forged 'Hitler Diaries'. Adam Sisman sheds new light on this fascinating and dramatic episode, but also shows that there was much more to Hugh Trevor-Roper's career than the fiasco of the Hitler Diaries hoax that became his epitaph. From wartime code-breaking to grilling Nazis while the trail was still fresh in 1945 (and finding Hitler's will buried inside a bottle), to his wide-ranging interests, his snobbery and his malice, his formidable post-war feuds with Evelyn Waugh, Tawney, Toynbee, Taylor and many others, and his secret and passionate affair with an older, married woman. A study in both success and failure, Adam Sisman's biography is a revealing and personal story of a remarkable life.
| ISBN | 0753828618 | | Pages | 624 | | ISBN13 | 9780753828618
(What's this?) | | Weight (grammes) | 705 | | Publisher | Orion Publishing Co | | Published in | London | | Imprint | Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ) | | Height (mm) | 214 | | Format | Paperback | | Width (mm) | 138 | | Publication date | 01 Sep 2011 | | Spine width (mm) | 46 | | DEWEY | 941.082092 | | Academic level | General | | DEWEY edition | DC22 | |
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An entertaining and scholarly account of the life of the great historian and the milieu of interwar Oxford. DAILY TELEGRAPH Sisman delves deep into the life and mind of his subject in this remarkably well-written biography SUNDAY TELEGRAPH a rewarding read SUNDAY TIMES Sisman's imperious account ... is lovingly researched yet impressively objective, leaving the reader in no doubt as to Trevor-Roper's academic abilities as well as to his failings as a man. SUNDAY BUSINESS POST A comprehensive and entertaining biography, highlighting the successes and failures of a complex man SOUTH WALES ARGUS detailed, judicious and entertaining, a great treat for those of us who enjoy bitchy don anecdotes -- David Sexton EVENING TELEGRAPH Sisman tells the story of Trevor-Roper with authority and relish..a perfect biography -- Robert Harris SUNDAY TIMES How lucky for Trevor-Roper, and for us, that the ideal biographer was here. It is impossible to praise Sisman's book too highly -- An Wilson OBSERVER Richly rewarding on every level -- Selina Hastings INDEPENDENT This is a fine and serious biography which, on page after page, has made me laugh out loud -- Noel Malcolm SUNDAY TELEGRAPH the thoroughness, fairness and frankness of this biography are exemplary. consistently engrossing -- Stefan Collini GUARDIAN A reminder of what a realy luminous portrait looks like. Elegant, witty and incisive, it is a study in paradoxes...Sisman casts light into the darkest crannies of a fascniating personality. THE OLDIE 20120201
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