Nikolai Tolstoy
Encyclopedia
Count Nikolai Dmitrievich Tolstoy-Miloslavsky is an Anglo
-Russia
n historian
and author who writes under the name Nikolai Tolstoy. A member of the prominent Tolstoy family, he is of part Russia
n descent and is the stepson of the author Patrick O'Brian
. He is also a former prospective parliamentary candidate
of the United Kingdom Independence Party
.
(1828–1910) is that of a distant cousin, as Leo Tolstoy was descended from Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy (1645–1729), the younger brother of Ivan.
Tolstoy's great-grandfather, Pavel Tolstoy-Miloslavsky, was Chamberlain
to the last reigning Tsar, Nicholas II of Russia
, who had declared his intention of creating him a Count for his services, but this was deferred due to the growing crisis in Russia during the First World War. When Grand Duke Kiril succeeded to the imperial inheritance and rights, he granted Pavel Tolstoy-Miloslavsky the title, an elevation which was approved by the Dowager Empress Maria Fyodorovna and by Nicholas II's sisters Xenia
and Olga
.
Tolstoy's father, Count Dimitri Tolstoy, escaped from Russia
in 1920 and settled in England
. He entered the legal profession, was called to the bar and was appointed a Queen's Counsel
.
Tolstoy himself is married and has four children, Alexandra
, Xenia, Anastasia and Dmitri.
, Sandhurst
and Trinity College
, Dublin. On his upbringing he has written –
. In The Quest for Merlin he has explored the character of Merlin
, and his Arthurian
novel The Coming of the King
builds on his research into ancient British history. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
in 1979.
He has also written about World War II
and its immediate aftermath, his books including Victims Of Yalta
and The Minister and the Massacres, which criticised the British forced handover of Soviet citizens to Stalin
in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions
, a book which was the target of strong criticism. He has recently published the first volume of a biography of his stepfather, the novelist Patrick O'Brian
, and is reported to plan a second volume.
in Israel
. In a letter to the Daily Telegraph (21 April 1988), Tolstoy said the trial and the court's procedures struck "at the most vital principles of natural justice". He condemned the use of especially bussed-in audiences, who were repeatedly permitted by Judge Levin to boo and hiss at appropriate moments. He called Levin's conduct "an appalling travesty of every principle of equity", and said that it was "a show trial in every sense of the word", even being conducted in a theatre. When eventually the United States Justice Department was found to have collaborated with the Soviet authorities in suppressing evidence that he had been falsely identified, the case against Demjanjuk was dismissed.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Conservative Monday Club hosted a major dinner for Tolstoy at the Charing Cross Hotel in London on 26 October 1988. It was an opportunity for him to put his case to a wider audience on his forthcoming libel action defence, the writ for which had already been served.
In 1989, Lord Aldington
, previously a British officer, former Chairman of the Conservative Party
, and then Chairman of Sun Alliance, an insurance
company, commenced the libel action over allegations of war crimes made by Tolstoy in a pamphlet distributed by Nigel Watts, a man involved with Sun Alliance on an unrelated insurance matter. Although Tolstoy was not the initial target of the action, he felt honour-bound to join Watts as defendant. He lost and was ordered to pay £2 million (£1.5 million in damages and £0.5 million in costs). Documents subsequently obtained from the Ministry of Defence showed that under Government instructions files essential to the defence case had been withdrawn from the Public Record Office and retained by the MoD and Foreign Office throughout the run-up to the trial and the trial itself. A full account of this complicated and convoluted trial can be found in Ian Mitchell's The Cost of a Reputation. Tolstoy sought to appeal on the basis of new evidence proving Aldington had perjured himself over the date of his departure from Austria in May 1945. This was ruled inadmissible at a hearing in the High Courts of Justice, from which the press and public were barred, and his right to appeal was rejected.
In July 1995, the European Court of Human Rights
concluded unanimously that the British Government had violated Tolstoy's rights in respect of Article 10 of the Convention on Human Rights, although this referred strictly to the amount of the damages awarded against him and did not overturn the guilty verdict of his libel action. The Times
commented in a leading article:
. He was also Chairman of the London-based Russian Monarchist League, and chaired their annual dinner on 6 March 1986, when the Guest-of-Honour was the MP
, John Biggs-Davison
. He was also in the chair for their Summer Dinner on 4 June 1987, at the Oxford and Cambridge Club
in Pall Mall
. Tolstoy was a founding committee member (January 1989) of the now established War and Peace Ball, held annually in London, which raises funds for White Russian charities.
In October 1987, he was presented with the International Freedom Award by the United States Industrial Council Educational Foundation:
"for his courageous search for the truth about the victims of totalitarianism and deceit."
In October 1991, Nikolai Tolstoy joined a Conservative Monday Club
delegation, under the auspices of the Club's Foreign Affairs Committee, and travelled to observe the war between Serbia
and Croatia
, the first British political delegation to observe that conflict. Conservative MPs Andrew Hunter
, and Roger Knapman
, then a junior minister in the Conservative government (and from 2002 to 2006 leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party
(UKIP)), were also part of the delegation which, after going to the front lines in the Sisak
region, was entertained by President Franjo Tudjman and the Croatian government in Zagreb
. On 13 October the group held a Press Conference at the Hotel Intercontinental in Zagreb, which apart from the media, was also attended by delegates from the French government. A report on the conflict was agreed and handed in to 10 Downing Street
by Andrew Hunter.
Tolstoy became an early member of the United Kingdom Independence Party
(UKIP). He was approached by Alan Sked
in December 1996 with a view to being a parliamentary candidate for them. Subsequently he was their candidate for the Barnsley East by-election in 1996 and for Wantage seat in the 1997, 2001
and 2005 general elections
. He was later selected by UKIP to stand against Conservative Party leader David Cameron
in Witney
at the 2010 general election but lost to Cameron who held his seat, becoming the new Prime Minister of the U.K.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
-Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and author who writes under the name Nikolai Tolstoy. A member of the prominent Tolstoy family, he is of part Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n descent and is the stepson of the author Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian, CBE , born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centred on the friendship of English Naval Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen...
. He is also a former prospective parliamentary candidate
Prospective parliamentary candidate
Prospective parliamentary candidate is a term used in British politics to refer to candidates selected by political parties to fight individual constituencies in advance of a general election. This terminology was motivated by the strict limits on the amount of expenses incurred by an actual...
of the United Kingdom Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...
.
Family
Tolstoy is the head of the senior branch of the Tolstoy family, being descended from Ivan Andreyevich Tolstoy (1644–1713). His relationship to the famous author Leo TolstoyLeo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
(1828–1910) is that of a distant cousin, as Leo Tolstoy was descended from Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy (1645–1729), the younger brother of Ivan.
Tolstoy's great-grandfather, Pavel Tolstoy-Miloslavsky, was Chamberlain
Chamberlain (office)
A chamberlain is an officer in charge of managing a household. In many countries there are ceremonial posts associated with the household of the sovereign....
to the last reigning Tsar, Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
, who had declared his intention of creating him a Count for his services, but this was deferred due to the growing crisis in Russia during the First World War. When Grand Duke Kiril succeeded to the imperial inheritance and rights, he granted Pavel Tolstoy-Miloslavsky the title, an elevation which was approved by the Dowager Empress Maria Fyodorovna and by Nicholas II's sisters Xenia
Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia
Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia was a daughter of Tsar Alexander III of Russia and the elder of Tsar Nicholas II two sisters. She married her cousin Grand Duke Alexander Mikailovich of Russia, with whom she had seven children....
and Olga
Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia
Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia was the youngest child of Emperor Alexander III of Russia. Her older brother was Tsar Nicholas II....
.
Tolstoy's father, Count Dimitri Tolstoy, escaped from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in 1920 and settled in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He entered the legal profession, was called to the bar and was appointed a Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
.
Tolstoy himself is married and has four children, Alexandra
Alexandra Tolstoy
Alexandra Tolstoy FRGS is an equine adventurer, broadcaster and businesswoman, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society...
, Xenia, Anastasia and Dmitri.
Early life
Born in England in 1935, Tolstoy was educated at Wellington CollegeWellington College, Berkshire
-Former pupils:Notable former pupils include historian P. J. Marshall, architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, impressionist Rory Bremner, Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, author Sebastian Faulks, language school pioneer John Haycraft, political journalist Robin Oakley, actor Sir Christopher...
, Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
and Trinity College
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
, Dublin. On his upbringing he has written –
Literary career
Tolstoy has written a number of books about Celtic mythologyCeltic mythology
Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...
. In The Quest for Merlin he has explored the character of Merlin
Merlin
Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
, and his Arthurian
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
novel The Coming of the King
The Coming of the King
The Coming of the King: The First Book of Merlin is a 1988 historical fantasy novel by Nikolai Tolstoy drawing upon Arthurian legend and more broadly, Celtic and Germanic mythology...
builds on his research into ancient British history. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
in 1979.
He has also written about World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and its immediate aftermath, his books including Victims Of Yalta
Yalta
Yalta is a city in Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea.The city is located on the site of an ancient Greek colony, said to have been founded by Greek sailors who were looking for a safe shore on which to land. It is situated on a deep bay facing south towards the Black...
and The Minister and the Massacres, which criticised the British forced handover of Soviet citizens to Stalin
Operation Keelhaul
Operation Keelhaul was carried out in Northern Italy by British and American forces to repatriate Soviet Armed Forces POWs of the Nazis to the Soviet Union between August 14, 1946 and May 9, 1947...
in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions
Geneva Conventions
The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of the victims of war...
, a book which was the target of strong criticism. He has recently published the first volume of a biography of his stepfather, the novelist Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian, CBE , born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centred on the friendship of English Naval Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen...
, and is reported to plan a second volume.
Controversy
As historian of the forced repatriation of Soviet citizens and others during and after World War II, he was called by the defence as an expert witness at the trial of John DemjanjukJohn Demjanjuk
John Demjanjuk is a retired Ukrainian-American auto worker who gained notoriety after being accused numerous times of Holocaust-related war crimes....
in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. In a letter to the Daily Telegraph (21 April 1988), Tolstoy said the trial and the court's procedures struck "at the most vital principles of natural justice". He condemned the use of especially bussed-in audiences, who were repeatedly permitted by Judge Levin to boo and hiss at appropriate moments. He called Levin's conduct "an appalling travesty of every principle of equity", and said that it was "a show trial in every sense of the word", even being conducted in a theatre. When eventually the United States Justice Department was found to have collaborated with the Soviet authorities in suppressing evidence that he had been falsely identified, the case against Demjanjuk was dismissed.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Conservative Monday Club hosted a major dinner for Tolstoy at the Charing Cross Hotel in London on 26 October 1988. It was an opportunity for him to put his case to a wider audience on his forthcoming libel action defence, the writ for which had already been served.
In 1989, Lord Aldington
Toby Low, 1st Baron Aldington
Toby Austin Richard William Low, 1st Baron Aldington, KCMG, CBE, DSO, TD, DL, PC , was a British Conservative Party politician and businessman.-Life:...
, previously a British officer, former Chairman of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, and then Chairman of Sun Alliance, an insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
company, commenced the libel action over allegations of war crimes made by Tolstoy in a pamphlet distributed by Nigel Watts, a man involved with Sun Alliance on an unrelated insurance matter. Although Tolstoy was not the initial target of the action, he felt honour-bound to join Watts as defendant. He lost and was ordered to pay £2 million (£1.5 million in damages and £0.5 million in costs). Documents subsequently obtained from the Ministry of Defence showed that under Government instructions files essential to the defence case had been withdrawn from the Public Record Office and retained by the MoD and Foreign Office throughout the run-up to the trial and the trial itself. A full account of this complicated and convoluted trial can be found in Ian Mitchell's The Cost of a Reputation. Tolstoy sought to appeal on the basis of new evidence proving Aldington had perjured himself over the date of his departure from Austria in May 1945. This was ruled inadmissible at a hearing in the High Courts of Justice, from which the press and public were barred, and his right to appeal was rejected.
In July 1995, the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
concluded unanimously that the British Government had violated Tolstoy's rights in respect of Article 10 of the Convention on Human Rights, although this referred strictly to the amount of the damages awarded against him and did not overturn the guilty verdict of his libel action. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
commented in a leading article:
Political activity
A committed monarchist, Tolstoy is Chancellor of the International Monarchist LeagueInternational Monarchist League
The International Monarchist League is an organisation dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the monarchical system of government and the principle of monarchy worldwide...
. He was also Chairman of the London-based Russian Monarchist League, and chaired their annual dinner on 6 March 1986, when the Guest-of-Honour was the MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, John Biggs-Davison
John Biggs-Davison
Sir John Alec Biggs-Davison was a Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom for Chigwell from 1955 and then, after boundary changes in 1974, Epping Forest until his death. He was a leading figure in the Conservative Monday Club.-Early years:The son of Major John Norman Biggs-Davison,...
. He was also in the chair for their Summer Dinner on 4 June 1987, at the Oxford and Cambridge Club
Oxford and Cambridge Club
The Oxford and Cambridge Club is at 71 Pall Mall, London, England. The clubhouse was designed for the membership by architect Sir Robert Smirke and completed towards the end of 1837. It was founded for members of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge...
in Pall Mall
Pall Mall, London
Pall Mall is a street in the City of Westminster, London, and parallel to The Mall, from St. James's Street across Waterloo Place to the Haymarket; while Pall Mall East continues into Trafalgar Square. The street is a major thoroughfare in the St James's area of London, and a section of the...
. Tolstoy was a founding committee member (January 1989) of the now established War and Peace Ball, held annually in London, which raises funds for White Russian charities.
"for his courageous search for the truth about the victims of totalitarianism and deceit."
In October 1991, Nikolai Tolstoy joined a Conservative Monday Club
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club is a British pressure group "on the right-wing" of the Conservative Party.-Overview:...
delegation, under the auspices of the Club's Foreign Affairs Committee, and travelled to observe the war between Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, the first British political delegation to observe that conflict. Conservative MPs Andrew Hunter
Andrew Hunter (British politician)
Andrew Robert Frederick Ebenezer Hunter is a United Kingdom politician and a member of the Orange Order. He was Member of Parliament for Basingstoke from 1983 until 2005...
, and Roger Knapman
Roger Knapman
Roger Maurice Knapman is a British politician and the former leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party ....
, then a junior minister in the Conservative government (and from 2002 to 2006 leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...
(UKIP)), were also part of the delegation which, after going to the front lines in the Sisak
Sisak
Sisak is a city in central Croatia. The city's population in 2011 was 33,049, with a total of 49,699 in the administrative region and it is also the administrative centre of the Sisak-Moslavina county...
region, was entertained by President Franjo Tudjman and the Croatian government in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
. On 13 October the group held a Press Conference at the Hotel Intercontinental in Zagreb, which apart from the media, was also attended by delegates from the French government. A report on the conflict was agreed and handed in to 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
by Andrew Hunter.
Tolstoy became an early member of the United Kingdom Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...
(UKIP). He was approached by Alan Sked
Alan Sked
Alan Sked is Professor of International History at the London School of Economics . He studied History at Glasgow, then Merton College, Oxford. His doctoral supervisor at Oxford was A. J. P. Taylor, who was a major influence on Sked. In particular, Sked's writings on the Habsburg Monarchy owe much...
in December 1996 with a view to being a parliamentary candidate for them. Subsequently he was their candidate for the Barnsley East by-election in 1996 and for Wantage seat in the 1997, 2001
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
and 2005 general elections
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
. He was later selected by UKIP to stand against Conservative Party leader David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
in Witney
Witney (UK Parliament constituency)
Witney is a county constituency in Oxfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election, and was created for the 1983 general election....
at the 2010 general election but lost to Cameron who held his seat, becoming the new Prime Minister of the U.K.
Publications
- The Founding of Evil Hold School, London, 1968, ISBN 0491003714
- Night of the Long Knives, New York, 1972, ISBN 0345027876
- Victims of YaltaVictims of YaltaVictims of Yalta is the British and The Secret Betrayal the American title of a 1977 book by Nikolai Tolstoy that chronicles the fate of Soviet people who had been under German control during World War II and at its end fallen into the hands of the Western Allies...
, originally published in London, 1977. Revised edition 1979. ISBN 0-552-11030-2, published in the US as The Secret Betrayal, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1977, ISBN 0-684-15635-0 - The Half-Mad Lord: Thomas Pitt, 2nd Baron Camelford (1775-1804), London, 1978, ISBN 0-224-01664-4
- Stalin's Secret War, London, 1981, ISBN 0-224-01665-2
- The Tolstoys — 24 Generations of Russian History, 1353-1983 by Nikolai Tolstoy, London, 1983, ISBN 0-241-10979-5
- The Quest for Merlin, 1985, ISBN 0-241-11356-3
- The Minister and the Massacres, London, 1986, ISBN 0-09-164010-5
- The Coming of the King, London, 1988, ISBN 0-593-01312-3
- Patrick O'Brian — The Making of the Novelist, London 2004, ISBN 0-7126-7025-4