Diaries, 1984-1997 by James Lees-Milne

  1. Diaries, 1984-1997
  2. by James Lees-Milne
  3. Find this on the Guardian bookshop

And this is what John Murray is publishing today: the 13th and final volume of James Lees-Milne's diaries, which mainly document his hobnobbing at various garden parties, funerals and at Fortnum & Mason in the years before his death in 1997 at the age of 90. Lees-Milne was a novelist and a champion of the country house who worked at the National Trust (although he bemoaned the its "populism"). His Diaries are therefore unsurprisingly scattered with reflections on splendid cottages, but on the whole are more notable for their waspish candour about various establishment figures. In this sense they have an affinity with Alan Clark's diaries, although Lees-Milne slates Clark's work as being full of "too many acronyms, initials and filthy words". Receiving more praise are Nicholas Ridley's wife ("a chirpy little trout"), the "great and glorious" Thatcher and his great friend, the notoriously pro-fascist Diana Mosley. Markedly less popular are Tony Benn, "that bitch" Kitty Kelley and "those awful women at Greenham Common".

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