Alan Clark: The Biography

Although Alan Clark died in 1999, his reputation lives on—a popular TV series was based on his life and his diaries sold more than half a million copies. A noted historian, he was Tory MP for Plymouth Sutton and controversial minister under Mrs. Thatcher. Here his biographer Ion Trewin, drawing on the personal papers from the Clarks' Saltwood Castle home in Kent, tells an enthralling story of the life that Clark himself chose not to discuss: an unhappy childhood with neglectful parents, the fire destroyed his first school, wartime Eton, and his time at Oxford under Hugh Trevor-Roper. His first novel—accepted on the 13th submission—was pulped because of libel, but went on to gain praise. Readers may think they know Clark's political life from his diaries, but Clark himself neglected to tell all. He adored women and courted a schoolgirl he first met when she was 16 and he 30. This was Jane, to whom he remained married—if not faithfully—until his death from a brain tumor in 1999. The extent of his extra-marital escapades is now revealed. Here for the first time the unknown Alan Clark stands revealed.