In 1961, a beautiful 19-year-old girl had a short affair with the Minister for War, John Profumo. Within two years, this led to the downfall of Harold Macmillan's government - she had also been having an affair with a Russian diplomat (this was the height of the Cold War), and Profumo had lied to Parliament. But the social impact was greater than any political legacy: sex was now on everyone's lips, and the press had discovered that it could, and would, expose the private lives of public figures. The story that Christine ...
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In 1961, a beautiful 19-year-old girl had a short affair with the Minister for War, John Profumo. Within two years, this led to the downfall of Harold Macmillan's government - she had also been having an affair with a Russian diplomat (this was the height of the Cold War), and Profumo had lied to Parliament. But the social impact was greater than any political legacy: sex was now on everyone's lips, and the press had discovered that it could, and would, expose the private lives of public figures. The story that Christine Keeler, the woman at the epicentre of this scandal, tells reverses all our preconceptions of this near-legendary episode. The political and diplomatic ramifications of the affair and the activities of the circles in which she moved may well have been more far-reaching than ever imagined. But above all this is the life's journey of a woman whom history has refused to let go, of her enormous personal sacrifices, and of her unstinting resolve. 'Proves that truth really can be stranger than fiction.' Daily Express 'A compulsive, ancient mariner quality' The Observer
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In the late 1960s, Christine Keeler was only 17 when she left her small village in the Thames Valley for London. Becoming a showgirl at Murrays Night Club, she was quickly seduced by the hedonistic life, meeting Stephen Ward, Osteopath, and moving in with him in what she terms a platonic relationship, while being taught the sophistications and 'laissez faire' of the good life, meeting Government Ministers, aristocrats, drug dealers and the wealthy and the takers. Her story has been well documented in the tabloids of her life of loose living, her many affairs, and the scandal that rocked the British Government, but what was not written about was the spy ring she alleges Stephen Ward ran, meeting with Government Ministers and Russian spies in his flat in London, and at his rented cottage in the grounds of Clivedon, the mansion belonging to Lord Astor. It is often uncomfortable reading, especially the description of the sexual romps and the lack of community among her friends, and it is as well to be reminded that Keeler was not even 21 when the Profumo affair and her concurrent liaison with Russian Naval Attache, Eugene Ivanov broke through the media.
What is not easy to comprehend is just why the author repeatedly went back into situations which had already been shown as dangerous and even life-threatening. At times she seemed entirely careless of her safety, but her desire to tell all at this time is understandable in the light of relevant files and documents at last having been released.
It is often gripping reading, although the author does get a bit bogged down with who-went-where-when, so that the 'tangled-wool' feel does somewhat flag the interest, but a true story such as hers doesn't come along too often and this one's worth reading about.