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 Carl ...

and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...

, 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 ...

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 r ...

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 the ...

, 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

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