First published 1994
Nicholas Mosley confronts the legacy of his father, Sir Oswald Mosley, once branded England's most despised political figure. The elder Mosley began as an aristocrat married to Cynthia Curzon, socializing with Winston Churchill and Ramsay MacDonald. He abandoned the Conservative Party over Ireland, joined Labour, then founded the British Union of Fascists in disgust at broken promises. His fascist activities led to imprisonment in 1940, though he maintained his gentleman's pursuits and philosophical interests throughout. Nicholas traces his own emotional journey from childhood worship of his father through years of estrangement to eventual reconciliation. Using private papers and intimate correspondence for the first time, he reveals both parents with startling immediacy. The narrative captures Cynthia's tragic death and Oswald's contradictory nature as a man who embraced opposing forces yet achieved remarkable serenity in old age. This dual biography explores how a son comes to understand a father whose political choices placed him beyond acceptable society.
Genres: biography, historical-fiction, 20th-century, political-science
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, reconciliation
Setting: Britain, England
Period: 1940s, 20th-century
608 pages · Hardcover · Secker & Warburg