James Lees-Milne: The Life [Hardcover]

'Admirably crisp, brisk and comprehensive'

'Full of sex, scandal and name-dropping, this biography does justice to James Lees-Milne'

'Very funny indeed'

'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'

'Funny, observant and revealing'

'Fascinating new biography'

'...a remarkable study, a striking three-dimensional portrait of a subversive, sensitive and endearing man...'

'Bloch has produced the perfect compliment to Lees-Milne's books and fully justified his mentor's faith'

'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...'

'Total candour and integrity.  This is an absolutely model biography'

'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 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'

"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"

'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'

'This final assortment of journals reaffirms Lees-Milne's reputation as one of the 20th century's greatest diarists'  

'I much enjoy his waspish asides and his frank self- knowledge'

'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.'

'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'

'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'

''A joy to read'

'Superbly written and enormously entertaining...'

'This book presents a frank and sympathetic portrait'

'A frank and sympathetic portrait'

'A frank and sympathetic portrait...9/10'

'A rich social history and a warm picture of a man particular to his time'

"Michael Bloch has served his old friend well...a book every bit as well written and entertaining as the diaries"

"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'

'His biography is disciplined, compact, elegant and tender, and equally illuminating, suggestive and commodius abouit all the compartmentalized little platoons that Lees-Milne served,'

'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'

'Total candour and integrity.  This is an absolutely model biography'

' Michael Bloch's admirable biography has nothing of déjà vu about it.  He has done his old friend proud '

'His vivid and sparkling biography...an accomplished and confident account...admirable,'

'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, Block 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',

 'Admirably crisp and comprehensive life of the Pepys of the twentieth century'

'A frank and sympathetic portrait...9/10',

Full of sex, scandal and name-dropping, this biography does justice to James Lees-Milne'

'A frank and sympathetic portrait'

'Very funny indeed'

'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'

'Funny, observant and revealing'

'Fascinating new biography'

'Bloch has produced the perfect compliment to Lees-Milne's books and fully justified his mentor's faith'

'Bloch...is a tactful, sensitive but not an indulgent biographer.'

'This book presents a frank and sympathetic portrait'

"Frank and sympathetic portrait of a complex, cultured and loveable man, whose fame grew as he aged"

" A rich social history and a warm picture of a man particular to his time"

'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'