Michael Anthony Bloch (born 24 September 1953) is an author and historian.
Educated at
Portadown College
Portadown College is an academically selective, co-educational post-14 grammar school in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.
History
Preparatory Department
Portadown College Preparatory Department was founded in 1921 as the Carlet ...
and
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...
, he was
called to the bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
by the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...
in 1978 and in 1979 became an assistant to Maître
Suzanne Blum, the Parisian lawyer of the
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
and
Duchess of Windsor
Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a ...
.
[JEREMY THORPE by Michael Bloch]
at littlebrown.co.uk, accessed 25 February 2018
Bloch's books include several about the Duke and Duchess, an authorized biography of James Lees-Milne
(George) James Henry Lees-Milne (6 August 1908 – 28 December 1997) was an English writer and expert on country houses, who worked for the National Trust from 1936 to 1973. He was an architectural historian, novelist and biographer. His extensi ...
, a study of the Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe
John Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979, and as leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976. In May 1979 he was tried at th ...
,[ and a biography of ]Frederick Matthias Alexander
Frederick Matthias Alexander (20 January 1869 – 10 October 1955) was an Australian actor and author who developed the Alexander Technique, an educational process that recognizes and overcomes reactive, habitual limitations in movement and th ...
, founder of the Alexander Technique.[Michael Bloch, ''FM: The Life of Frederick Matthias Alexander, Founder of the Alexander Technique'' (Little Brown, 2004)] Bloch was once the lover of Lees-Milne, writing in 2009: "I thought he was quite simply the most wonderful person I had ever met". In a review, it was noted that Bloch in his biography of Lees-Milne had a "laudable objectivity" about him, despite being one of his "most loyal and long-term late-in-life amours".
Books
* ''The Duke of Windsor's War'' (Weidenfeld, 1982)
* ''Operation Willi'' (Weidenfeld, 1984)
*''Wallis and Edward: The Intimate Correspondence of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor'' (Weidenfeld, 1986)
* ''The Secret File of the Duke of Windsor'' (Bantam Press, 1988)
* ''The Reign and Abdication of Edward VIII'' (Bantam Press, 1990)
* ''Ribbentrop'' (Bantam Press, 1992)
* ''The Duchess of Windsor'' (Weidenfeld, 1996),
* ''FM: The Life of Frederick Matthias Alexander, Founder of the Alexander Technique'' (Little Brown, 2004)
* ''James Lees-Milne: The Life'' (John Murray, 2009)
* ''Jeremy Thorpe'' (Little Brown, 2014)
* ''Closet Queens: Some 20th Century British Politicians'' (Little Brown, 2015)
Bloch edited the later diaries of James Lees-Milne
(George) James Henry Lees-Milne (6 August 1908 – 28 December 1997) was an English writer and expert on country houses, who worked for the National Trust from 1936 to 1973. He was an architectural historian, novelist and biographer. His extensi ...
for publication by John Murray: ''Deep Romantic Chasm, 1979-81'' (2000); ''Holy Dread, 1982-84'' (2001); ''Beneath a Waning Moon, 1985-97'' (2003); ''Ceaseless Turmoil, 1988-92''(2004); ''The Milk of Paradise, 1993-97'' (2005). He also abridged the original 12-volume series in 3 volumes: ''Diaries, 1942-54'' (2006); ''Diaries, 1971-83'' (2007); ''Diaries, 1984-97'' (2008).
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloch, Michael Anthony
1953 births
Living people
People educated at Portadown College
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
Members of the Inner Temple