Diana Mosley: A Life Of Contrasts

Reviewed by KAY DE RUYTER

Diana Mosley occupies a unique position in the events of last century. She was close to both Hitler and Churchill, moved in literary circles and socialised with royalty. Her autobiography gives an insight into crucial events of the 20th century, a century with more wars and social change than any other.

She was born Diana Mitford in 1910, into an aristocratic family which included the novelist Nancy Mitford and Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire. Her upbringing was sheltered and privileged, an Edwardian idyll spent in the family's numerous houses in England and Ireland. After a brief marriage to Bryan Guinness she fell in love with Labour MP Oswald Mosley, and helped him to set up his own party, the British Union of Fascists. Diana Mitford visited Germany several times before the war with her sister Unity, and met Hitler and the Goebbels family.

She and Mosley were imprisoned without trial in London in 1940 for their political views, having married secretly in Germany, a wedding attended by both Hitler and Goebbels. Her youngest son was 3 weeks old and still being breastfed when she was sent to jail. She was unable to take him with her, and suffered illness and deprivation as a result. She was released from Holloway Prison after three years, but it was four more years before she was able to travel overseas.

In reviewing this book one is reminded of the distaste with which the Mosleys' actions were, and still are, viewed in Britain. The "cheerful cohort of monsters" was how the Sunday Telegraph described them when this autobiography was first published in 1977. Their nationwide fascist party rallies are still considered by many Britons to be a betrayal of British ideals.

The chapters on Hitler and Churchill are the most fascinating in the book, but politics aside, there is still plenty of material to interest new readers: Diana Mosley's childhood in the country, her deliciously eccentric relatives (some of whom closely resemble characters in her sister's books) and her connections with leading writers of the time. Lytton Strachey, Evelyn Waugh and A.N. Wilson featured in her literary circle, and she and Mosley established a publishing company after the war. A friend of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor while living in Paris, she attended the duchess' funeral in England, and her sharp and witty observations of that event are an example of her trenchant wit.

She has a gift for friendship, continuing to charm despite outliving most of her contemporaries, and a toughness that belies her sheltered upbringing. Outspoken still on political matters, she continues to champion Mosley's vision, including his desire for a united Europe.

The foreword is by Selina Hastings, the author of biographies of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh, and an authority on mid-20th-century literary personalities. The book has been updated with recent photographs and revealing chapters on the true nature of Diana Mosley's visits to Germany, and her attendance at the 1964 Nelson Mandela trial. The breadth of her experience over the 20th century makes A Life of Contrasts a fascinating read.

Gibson Square $29.95

* Kay de Ruyter is an Auckland reviewer.