Book description
The Ritz, the Savoy, the Dorchester and Claridge's - during the Second
World War they teemed with spies, con-artists, deposed royals and the
exiled governments of Europe. Meet the girl from MI5 who had the gravy
browning licked from her legs by Dylan Thomas; the barman who was
appointed the keeper of Churchill's private bottle of whisky; the East
End Communist who marched with his comrades into the air-raid shelter of
the Savoy; the throneless prince born in a suite at Claridge's declared
Yugoslav territory for one night only. Matthew Sweet has interviewed
them all for this account of the extraordinary events that unfolded
under the reinforced ceilings of London's grand hotels. Using the
memories of first-hand witnesses, the contents of newly declassified
government files and a wealth of previously unpublished letters, memoirs
and photographs, he has reconstructed a lost world of scandal, intrigue
and fortitude. Matthew Sweet presents Night Waves and Freethinking on
BBC Radio 3, and is the summer presenter of The Film Programme on Radio
Four. He is the author of Inventing the Victorians and Shepperton
Babylon, which he adapted as a film for BBC Four. His TV programmes
include Silent Britain, A Brief History of Fun, The Age of Excess,
Truly, Madly, Cheaply and The Rules of Film Noir. .
