James Lees-Milne (1908-97) - known to friends as Jim - is remembered for his work for the National Trust, rescuing some of England's greatest architectural treasures, and for the vivid and entertaining diaries which have earned him a reputation as 'the twentieth-century Pepys'. In this long-awaited biography, Michael Bloch portrays a life rich in contradictions, in which an unassuming youth overtook more dazzling contemporaries to emerge as a leading figure in the fields of conservation and letters. It describes Jim's bisexual love life, his tempestuous marriage to the exotic Alvilde, and his friendship with other fascinating literary figures including John Betjeman, Robert Byron, Rosamond Lehmann, and the Mitford sisters (whose brother Tom had been Jim's great love at Eton). It depicts a man who was romantically attached to the England of his childhood and felt out of tune with his own times, but who left an enduring legacy through the preservation of country houses and his eloquent chronicling of a dying world.
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Review
'Admirably crisp, brisk and comprehensive'
(The Sunday Times (Culture), Peter Kemp )'Full of sex, scandal and name-dropping, this biography does justice to James Lees-Milne'
(The Observer, Oliver Marre )'Very funny indeed'
(The Independent on Sunday, DJ Taylor )'If he does not sweep us up the whole length of the drive with his passionate intensity, he succeeds in dropping us off safely at the gates of a minor, but convincing, national treasure'
(The Telegraph Review, Nicholas Shakespeare )'Funny, observant and revealing'
(The Scotsman, David Sexton )'Fascinating new biography'
(Daily Mail )'...a remarkable study, a striking three-dimensional portrait of a subversive, sensitive and endearing man...'
(Selina Hastings, Sunday Telegraph )'Bloch has produced the perfect compliment to Lees-Milne's books and fully justified his mentor's faith'
(Evening Standard, David Sexton )'Michael Bloch has resisted writing a pompous, laborious tombstone of a book about this long, busy, well-documented life. His biography is disciplined, compact, elegant and tender...'
(Richard Davenport-Hines, Times Literary Supplement )'Total candour and integrity. This is an absolutely model biography'
(A. N. Wilson, Country Life )'This book has been eagerly awaited by addicts of James Lees-Milne's diaries, and they will not be disappointed. It is as perfect a biography as it is possible to imagine... It is not merely a rehash of the diaries, but brings to life the mercurial and delicate intelligence that brought them into being'
(A. N. Wilson, Country Life )'...a pleasing, rounded picture of the upper-class muddler who was the greatest English diarist of the twentieth century... Michael Bloch, who knew his subject well for many years, is a tactful, sensitive but not an indulgent biographer. His book conveys the contradictions of character and circumstances out of which this complicated, elusive but attractive personality evolved towards late-flowering celebrity'
(Rosemary Hill, London Review of Books )"Although Lees-Milne wrote so much about himself, Michael Bloch's admirable biography has nothing of déjà vu about it. He has done his old friend proud"
(The Literary Review, Jeremy Lewis )'This book is so well-written you can actually imagine what it's like to be duiaryist James Lees-Milne ... a brilliant insight into another world'
(News of the World )'This final assortment of journals reaffirms Lees-Milne's reputation as one of the 20th century's greatest diarists'
(Daily Express )'I much enjoy his waspish asides and his frank self- knowledge'
(Telegraph )'This book is so well-written you can actually imagine what it's like to be diarist James Lees-Milne ...a brilliant insight into another world.'
(News of the World )'An admirable biography. Bloch has written Lees-Milne's life in a way that honours its subject: funny, observant and revealing ... the perfect complement to the diaries'
(David Sexton, Evening Standard )'Bloch has dug deep and told all about his indiscreet, emotional, wrongheaded, infuriating, yet curiously disarming subject... The result is an absorbing and faintly disquieting example of the contemporary biographer's art'
(Anne Chisholm, The Spectator 20091003)'The writer's affection and understanding has resulted in a remarkable study, a striking three-dimensional portrait of a subversive, sensitive and endearing man. Naturally, Bloch has made good use of the diaries, but he has gone far beyond them, investigating the long periods when nothing was written as well as uncovering an intriguing and recurrent thread of fantasy... James Lees-Milne: The Life is an exceptional biography: lively, perceptive and well-written... The diaries will never be superseded, but this book is their essential companion' (Telegraph Seven 20090927)
'His vivid and sparkling biography...an accomplished and confident account...admirable,' (The Herald 20090926)
''A joy to read'
(Evening Chronicle, Anthony Looch 20090926)'Superbly written and enormously entertaining...'
(Oxford Times 20090926)'This is a sensitive and nuanced account of his life' (The Week 20090926)
'This book presents a frank and sympathetic portrait'
(Leicester Mercury 20090926)'A frank and sympathetic portrait'
(Western Mail / East Anglian Daily Times 20090926)'A frank and sympathetic portrait...9/10'
(Edinburgh Evening News 20090912)'A rich social history and a warm picture of a man particular to his time'
(Country & Town House 20090912)"Michael Bloch has served his old friend well...a book every bit as well written and entertaining as the diaries"
(Irish Times 20090912)"Frank and sympathetic portrait of a complex, cultured and loveable man, whose fame grew as he aged"
'Admirably judged; warm, but not hagiographical; sufficiently candid, and acutely revealing...the subject and the author are here perfectly matched'
'A unique insight into the workings of our charity in its early days... and more'
(National Trust Magazine 20090912)About the Author
Michael Bloch read law at St John's College, Cambridge, and was called to the bar by the Inner Temple. Appointed James Lees-Milne's literary executor in 1997, he edited the final five volumes of the complete diary and most recently has edited and introduced the three abridged volumes.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
For fans of JLM, difficult to separate one's feelings about the biography as a literary work, and its subject. Bloch is a good writer, with flowing text, and had the advantage (or disadvantage) of being very well acquainted at a personal level with his subject. Despite this, it is not a hagiography, and after all, JLM himself was always ready to admit to his own failings. The biography is at it strongest and most interesting for the years up to the 1940s, where there is more original material; beyond that it is harder to avoid simply retreading the diaries, and Bloch is not totally successful in this. There might, perhaps, have been more assessment and views of others on JLM's work on conservation and its impact. I hope that the National Trust will be broad-minded enough to stock this book about its greatest servant, despite its earlier negativity.
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By G. D. Busby
Format:Hardcover
As per Ms Owen's statement, this biography has been a long time coming (and I nearly despaired) but it is entertaining. Having started to read the Diaries in 1985, I have always wondered about some aspects of JLM's life - and now have answers. One wonders what the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire thinks of this biography, for a number of reasons.
There is a hint, may be not a hint, yet a suggestion that there is yet another book which Michael Bloch could produce featuring JLM. Reflecting back on nearly a quarter of a century of reading Lees-Milne, I cannot help thinking that this biography should only be read after the Diaries or, just possibly, concurrently.
There is a hint, may be not a hint, yet a suggestion that there is yet another book which Michael Bloch could produce featuring JLM. Reflecting back on nearly a quarter of a century of reading Lees-Milne, I cannot help thinking that this biography should only be read after the Diaries or, just possibly, concurrently.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By SidneyD
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book has been long awaited and it fills many gaps and answers questions the curious reader of the diaries may have been asking. Lees-Milne lived a varied life with what became a huge circle of acquaintances, many distinguished. His knowledge of architecture and talents as a writer of history are undoubted. His semi-secret bisexual life is here explored - he seems to have had many male lovers and his marriage to Alvilde was very odd. So the biography is certainly a good read. I still felt I did not know quite what made Lees-Milne tick, his ambitions,(why, for example, the fantasies about his background?). Bloch has written an excellent surface history but a definitive biography remains to be done.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Michael Bloch has done a first rate job with this excellent biography of JLM. It is dispassionately written in an excellent style and kept me entertained throughout. It is well-structured with no 'longeurs'. As when reading the recent authorised biography of the Queen Mother, I was never tempted to skip a single page. Thoroughly absorbing and highly recommended.
It is good to see the book on sale in National Trust shops. JLM was the principal architect of the Trust which we know today and thereby left the whole country a priceless legacy.
It is good to see the book on sale in National Trust shops. JLM was the principal architect of the Trust which we know today and thereby left the whole country a priceless legacy.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
It must have been difficult for Michael Bloch to have found new material for his excellent biography, so much having already been published in the Lees-Milne diaries. I have not been disappointed at all by this book, a real insight into an obviously complex man. Well worth reading, and I will be rereading the diaries, to read them in the context of this biography.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I enjoyed this affectionate and well-written biography. Michael Bloch's life of James Lees-Milne is a welcome complement to - though not a substitute for - his old friend's splendid diaries.
Bloch covers much ground familiar to us from the Diaries, but he also fills in gaps and separates fact from fiction in Lees-Milne's accounts, for the diarist had a tremendous tendency to suborn other people's anecdotes and claim them for his own experience. In addition to painting the life of a fascinating individual, Bloch takes us on a well-researched tour of several lost worlds: those of the fading and eccentric upper classes of the war and immediate post war period; of Society converts to Roman Catholicism; of publishing and literary circles when they were still run by gentlemen; and of the openly secret and still illegal world of upper class and literary homosexuals.
Bloch expertly guides us though Lees-Milnes' "lower upper class" upbringing - he commonly implied it was grander - his non-distinguished education at Eton and Magdalen, Oxford, with a stint at "Miss Blakeney's School of Stenography for Young Ladies" in between, his difficult relationship with his philistine father who considered him to be a pansy ("I told him I am"), and his discovery, in a sense, of a surrogate father in his older lover, Harold Nicolson. It was partly through Nicolson that Lees-Milne landed his position in the fledgling and still clubby National Trust. His role as Country Houses Secretary was pivotal to his personal development and through it he made a major contribution to the conservation of England's heritage at a time when confiscatory taxation and other social policies threatened it with eradication.... Read more ›
Bloch covers much ground familiar to us from the Diaries, but he also fills in gaps and separates fact from fiction in Lees-Milne's accounts, for the diarist had a tremendous tendency to suborn other people's anecdotes and claim them for his own experience. In addition to painting the life of a fascinating individual, Bloch takes us on a well-researched tour of several lost worlds: those of the fading and eccentric upper classes of the war and immediate post war period; of Society converts to Roman Catholicism; of publishing and literary circles when they were still run by gentlemen; and of the openly secret and still illegal world of upper class and literary homosexuals.
Bloch expertly guides us though Lees-Milnes' "lower upper class" upbringing - he commonly implied it was grander - his non-distinguished education at Eton and Magdalen, Oxford, with a stint at "Miss Blakeney's School of Stenography for Young Ladies" in between, his difficult relationship with his philistine father who considered him to be a pansy ("I told him I am"), and his discovery, in a sense, of a surrogate father in his older lover, Harold Nicolson. It was partly through Nicolson that Lees-Milne landed his position in the fledgling and still clubby National Trust. His role as Country Houses Secretary was pivotal to his personal development and through it he made a major contribution to the conservation of England's heritage at a time when confiscatory taxation and other social policies threatened it with eradication.... Read more ›
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By T. Bently
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
I really enjoyed reading this book but, as other reviewers have suggested, it does have a few faults.
In particular, Michael Bloch seems to run out of steam a little towards the end. Whereas the earlier part of the tome is enlivened by copious quotations from the diaries, there are few of these for Lees-Milne's later years. He also makes the claim (several times) that his subject led a 'subversive' life, without ever giving any evidence to support this view. Lees-Milne is more typically regarded as being an arch-conservative.
Bloch ends his biography with Milne's death, which seems a common-sense place to stop, but in fact leaves several loose ends. I found myself wondering what happened to their house (and Alvilde's garden) on the Badminton estate, who attended the funeral and why his papers are held at Yale University.
Also, the typeface in this paperback edition is quite faint and small. Readers wishing to go easy on their eyes may wish to invest in, or borrow, the hardback instead.
In particular, Michael Bloch seems to run out of steam a little towards the end. Whereas the earlier part of the tome is enlivened by copious quotations from the diaries, there are few of these for Lees-Milne's later years. He also makes the claim (several times) that his subject led a 'subversive' life, without ever giving any evidence to support this view. Lees-Milne is more typically regarded as being an arch-conservative.
Bloch ends his biography with Milne's death, which seems a common-sense place to stop, but in fact leaves several loose ends. I found myself wondering what happened to their house (and Alvilde's garden) on the Badminton estate, who attended the funeral and why his papers are held at Yale University.
Also, the typeface in this paperback edition is quite faint and small. Readers wishing to go easy on their eyes may wish to invest in, or borrow, the hardback instead.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Is this biography really necessary?
This is an enjoyable page-turner of a biography. If you're interested in the workings of the National Trust after the Second World War, or gay middle and upper class society in the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. T. Harvey
5.0 out of 5 stars
High Fidelity
It is perhaps not surprising that Michael Bloch writes so authoritively about James Lees-Milne : apart from being a close friend for the last twenty years of his life he was his... Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2011 by J. Nichols
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Perceptive and Sensitive Biography
Michael Bloch's biography of James Lees-Milne is quite brilliant. He captures his subject 'warts and all' with understanding and equanimity and tells the story of this... Read more
Published on 6 Mar 2011 by Mr. S. Boswell
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great companion to the diaries
I've enjoyed the various volumes of diaries so was interested to learn more about James Lees-Milne himself. Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2011 by SteveofDerby
5.0 out of 5 stars
At last the biography
I have so enjoyed James Lees-Milne diaries and am very pleased that at last the biography of his life is published. Read more
Published on 5 July 2010 by warthog
3.0 out of 5 stars
disappointment
I found this book very disappointing. As a long time admirer of James Lees Milne ,I eagerly anticipated the biography and thought it might increase our knowledge of the man, his... Read more
Published on 16 Nov 2009 by E. Martin
5.0 out of 5 stars
coments
good biography, but must have been a mamoth task to compile from all the diaries and letters he left- credit to mr bloch
Published on 4 Nov 2009 by David Allott
4.0 out of 5 stars
Superb biography
This is a beautifully written book, which describes the life of Lees-Milne. It also describes a bygone age in wonderful detail. Read more
Published on 30 Oct 2009 by B. Cartwright
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating - a broad over view
If you have read The Diaries then there is much in this book that doesnt suprise... BUT what is interesting is the DOUBT the author injects into many of the well known J.M.L. Read more
Published on 14 Oct 2009 by Mr. John Fullick
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