A behind-the-scenes look at the desperate, scandalous private life of British MP and champion manipulator Jeremy Thorpe, and the history-making trial that exposed his secrets.
...this is probably the most forensic, elegantly written and compelling account of one of the 20th century’s great political scandals and it could not have been told in its entirety while Thorpe, who died in December 2014, was alive. It’s a real page-turner. An entertaining mix of tragedy and farce, involving people in high and low places, amply justifying its subtitle.
[Preston's] laserlike focus, while admirable in its no-stone-unturned way, does bog things down about halfway through; a reader wonders, when is the rubber going to really hit the road? This isn’t a book that you can digest in fits and starts. The long cast of characters and the intricacies of the British Parliament require some serious sitting-down time ... Preston, like any good journalist, has quite an ear for quotes and character sketches, and Scandal is sprinkled with gems that reflect an England long gone.
Preston has written this page-turner like a political thriller, with urgent dialogue, well-staged scenes, escalating tension and plenty of cliffhangers, especially once the trial begins. But no matter how hard he tries to convince us of Thorpe’s 'magnetic personality,' his central character comes off as selfish, arrogant and manipulative.
