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an epilogue (a bit like a biography of Fred West which
focussed more on his earlier career as an ice cream
salesman.) This is a fascinating story, both for anyone
interested in British political history of the last century,
and anyone intrigued by the tragic tale of a truly
diabolical man. Dorril has done an unfaultable job on
the research, and brings the narrative to life well with
his grotesque menagerie of characters. There are flaws
to the book. The author has a background as an analyst
of the machinations of the intelligence services of
Britain and abroad, and while this eye for detail has
undoubtedly made this work the powerhouse of research
it is, the endless recanting of certain details, the
exact nature of how the BUF obtained its funding for
example, can sometimes drag the story’s flow. More
directly, he concentrates a little too much on the nature
of MI5’s observation of the movement, when this is
very much a side-show to the main narrative. This dry
style can sometimes cloy over such a long length. Further,
while Dorril is great on the detail, actual analysis
is very thin on the ground. The one time Dorril does
attempt an analytical overview, it is with some rather
tenuous observations about Messianic leaders toward
the end, claiming that one Tony Blair shares the traits
of this style. Maybe so, but the point is made clumsily
and without satisfactory justification.
Ultimately however, Dorril’s stance in going for the
BUY Stephen Dorril books online from and
research style, dispassionately observant, pays off into
a great narrative by nature of the sheer dramatic scope
of the story he so meticulously examines. Scene after
scene and figure after grotesque figure linger on the
psychic retina. The drawing room parties of the man
playing host to every major political figure of the early
part of the century, one by one falling away as he fell
into disrepute. Mosley’s seaside frolics with his patrician
pals, offset against the pogrom style excesses of
his nastiest East End thugs, breaking into Jewish houses
and attacking children within. Mosley’s relentless psychological
torture of his first wife, the most poignant of
his bullying victims. Diana fending off the accusations
of sister Nancy that she had supported a movement that
murdered six million Jews with the remark “But darling,
it was the kindest way.” The London BUF headquarters
that doubled up as a knocking-shop, underlying with
grim humour the movement’s crossover with organised
crime. The UM hijacking the teddy-boy youth cult just
as the NF did with skinheads two decades later. The
sheer gall and lack of self-awareness in Mosley’s latelife
attempts to rehabilitate himself, attempting a ‘truce’
with Jewish leaders without any pretence of apology.
This is a grim tale that needs only clear explanation
and examination to be one of fascination. This is a task
Dorril has performed with enormous success with this
eye-opening and exhaustive work. �
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