Diana Mosley: Mitford Beauty, British Fascist, Hitler's Angel

by Anne de Courcy

Book Overview

Diana Mosley was a society beauty who fell from grace when she left her husband, brewery heir Bryan Guinness, for Sir Oswald Mosley, an admirer of Mussolini and a notorious womanizer. This horrified... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060565322
• ISBN13: 9780060565329
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Why an apparently decent British woman worshipped Hitler

Diana Mosley was a beautiful but enigmatic member of the British aristocracy, one of six Mitford sisters who were brought up in the relative seclusion of an exquisite Elisabethan manor, Astall, in Oxfordshire. Their father, Lord Redesdale, was something of a martinet, who limited his daughter's freedonm and insisted they be educated at home - so they were often left to their own devices and were forced create their own somewhat bizarre forms of entertainment. They, with their mother Sydney, were sent to Paris for economic reasons, while a new home, Swinbrook (or South Lawn) in Nothumberland was being built. This was their first taste of freedom, and for Diana it was her first intoxicating taste of freedom. One of her admirers was Winston's Churchill's son, Randolph. In her own words 'she flirted outrageously'. Eventually the family moved to Swinbrook, a home hated by all except David (Lord Redesdale. Bryan Guiness, the shy and artistic son of the immensely wealthy brewery heir and MP, Colnel Walter Guiness, became infatuated with Diana, and she apparently returned his love, although Diana's sister, Nancy, had misgivings. But eventually the couple married. Oswald Mosley (invariably known as Tom, exuded masculinity and arrogance - despite having a pronounced limp - which he claimed was the result of a plane crash while flying as an observer over German lines during the first world war. After recuperating he began a lifelong career in politics. Privately he was something of a womaniser. By 1926 he was elected as a Labour MP to the House of Commons. After a proposal of his (known as the Mosley Memorandum) was defeated at a party conferance, he resigned. Mosley was married to 'Cimmie' Lady Cynthia Curzon, the second of Lord Curzon's three daughters by his immensely rich first wife. On 28 February 1931 he launched the 'New Party'. Gradually it began to move away from moderation and veer further to the right. He soon becamne a fascist in all but name. He met Diana at a party, and although she didn't know it, had already 'marked her down'. Careless of his devoted wife, Mosley pursued 'the most beautiful woman in London'. Not only did he succeed in wooing her but he completely converted her to his fascist utopean ideal. They became lovers, almost under the noses of his wife Cimmie, and Diana's husband Bryan - but neither of them felt any guilt. Cimmie was operated on for acute appendicitis, the appendix burst and she never recovered. Diana was granted a decree nisi at a divorce hearing, which the heartbrken Bryan did not contest, instead arranging matters so that he appeared to be the guilty party. Mosley and his blackshirts had a number of meetings, with Mosley himself and William Joyce as guest speakers. The ensuing brutality and thuggery by Mosley supporters caused a complete volte-face by Diana's sister Nancy. Diana and her sister, Unity, visited Munich together, and through Putzi Hansfstaengl (who idolized Hitler) promised to introducte her to Hit

Great biography and a study of Fascism

"It remains extraordinary that a woman of such high intelligence could talk such heartless nonsense" These are the words of author Anne de Courcy upon hearing the 90+year-old Diana Mosley expound on her anti-semitic views. It is not that de Courcy did not try to discover what lay behind Diana Mosley's repellant beliefs. On the contrary, I believe that de Courcy did perhaps as well as anyone could have done to lay bare Diana Mitford-Guiness-Mosley's psyche. Many writers, when given unfettered access to a subject end up writing hagiographies. Anne de Courcy, on the other hand, has written an objective, clear-eyed account of Diana Mosley and her milieu. The author did an admirable job of describing the early Mitford household; the parents, sisters and other people who touched their lives are described in more than sufficient detail to lay the historical and psychological ground work for an understanding of the Mitfords' ensuing years. It was apparent that Diana was destined to lead an interesting life owing to her singular beauty and vivacious personality. She attracted the intellectual and wealthy elite like a magnet. The path that she chose for herself was indeed interesting, but often very uncomfortable. One small example of her interesting life is the fact that she was the last person alive to have personally known both Hitler and Winston Churchill. Most uncomfortable would have been her imprisonment and fractured family and personal relationships owing to her political and personal beliefs. De Courcy spends a fair amount of time describing the life and times of Diana's second husband, Oswald Mosley, and the British Fascist movement. Many early Fascists during the time of Mussolini's rise in Italy began their political lives as Labour supporters. When the Depression came and Fascism promised a better life for the average worker, many working class people joined Fascist organizations, such as the British Union. It seems incredible from a modern perspective that Leftists could suddenly do a flip to become Rightists, but that is indeed what happened to many political activists, including Mosely and to Diana Guinness, who was already under Mosley's control at the time. It was both fascinating and appalling to read about Diana Guinness falling under the influence of the charismatic Oswald Mosley, and her life-long dedication to Mosley and Fascist ideals. Both were charismatic people whose talents could have been put to far better use. Diana Mosley could have been the predecessor to another Diana, Diana Spencer, had she followed a different path. Instead, she is probably regarded as an unfortunate historical curiosity, much like her friends, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. As someone who is frankly more interested in the history of Fascism than in biographies of British wealthy elite, I found this book fascinating. I especially recommend this book to Americans who may not have heard of the Mitfords or the Mosleys before. The photographs alone ar

Great Biography of a Very Unusual Person and Family!

Diana was of the fabled Mitford sisters, and with the exception of her suicidal sister, Unity, the most bizarre. Both were completely infatuated with the Fuhrer, and his Germany. Now, in 2004, anyone can state the obvious about Nazi Germany. In the 1930's, this was definitely not as clear as now. Many forget the incredible attraction of the 1930's Germany to many at the time, not all Germans. And there was a deperate need not to have another terrible war between Germany & Birtain. Through her husband, the British Fascist Oswald Mosley, Diana, and Unity, met and befriended many top Nazi leaders. In sum, a really fine book in every way, not least for its insights into the times. A minor complaint is that the author could have written more about Diana's two author sisters, Jessica and Nancy, the 2 real brains in the family, both definitely more "normal" than Diana and Unity.

An outstanding biography written with her full cooperation

Diana Mosley is one of the most controversial women of the 20th century: this outstanding biography is written with her full cooperation and also includes hundreds of hours of taped interviews, access to her private diaries and letters, and unparalleled ability to achieve intimate revelations. The story of the society darling's notorious departure from an established marriage in favor of the leader of the British Union of Fascists and a notorious womanizer makes for an account which explains much about not only her actions, but the history and politics of the times.

The Most Enigmatic Mitford

Anne de Courcy's biography of Diana Mitford, Lady Mosley, is an indispensable addition to the Mitford collector's bookshelf and an excellent read for anyone else interested in British and European history during the twentieth century.Diana was probably the most enigmatic of the six Mitford sisters, daughters of Lord and Lady Redesdale and thus members of the highest British social world. In my opinion she was less talented than her older sister Nancy (talented novelist, biographer, and wit) and her next to youngest sister Jessica (one time Communist, muckraker, and wit). She was ambitious to marry well like her baby sister Deborah (Duchess of Devonshire) and managed to wed two prominent men, one a wealthy future Lord, the other a baronet with what looked like a prominent political future. Unfortunately the sister she most resembles was Unity, a Nazi enthusiast and Hitler hanger on. (The other sister, Pam, was a lover of the countryside and rural life, neither of which had much appeal to Diana.)Diana was an intelligent woman who was largely self educated. She made her first marriage at 18 to Bryan Guiness, who loved her for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, husbandly devotion and two sons were not enough for Diana, who fell in love with Sir Oswald Mosley in her early twenties. Mosley was a rising political star, having moved from the Conservatives to Labour to his own New Party to forming the British Union of Fascists in the early 1930s. De Courcy does a good job of describing Mosley's political appeal as a strong man who could be trusted to put things right (like Mussolini). In the Depression years he must have seemed an appealing alternative to politics as usual in Britain. Diana lived with Mosley and after the death of his first wife married him in Berlin, with Hitler as a wedding guest.Here is the most enigmatic part of Diana's story. How could an intelligent, pleasant, vivacious woman fall so heavily for the Nazis? De Courcy tries to answer this in terms of Diana's attraction to strong men, but this doesn't seem to be the full story. Whatever the attraction, it was life long and survived every revelation of Hitler's true character after World War II. Diana and her husband Mosley were so committed to Hitler and Fascism that they suffered imprisonment during much of World War II as possible subversives, and were ostracized by much of polite society and the British political world for the rest of their lives.None of this seemed to matter to Diana. She remained at Mosley's side through what must have been several of his extra-marital affairs (the word that seems to best sum up Oswald Mosley is "cad") and dominated a large family of children and step children and other descendants. She carried grudges with a vengeance, not speaking to her sister Jessica for years (Jessica had no use for her, either) and lambasting her step son for not sufficiently praising his father's memory in a biography. At the same time she was evidently ch