Nigel Dempster and the Death of Discretion

No one is more responsible for Britain's current obsession with celebrity culture than the late, great gossip columnist Nigel Dempster (1941-2007). For a quarter of a century, as the editor of the Daily Mail's diary, he was the man perfectly placed and qualified to record - and accelerate - the end of the age of deference...

“I'm really jealous of this; Dempsters world is such a juicy subject and Tim Willis has caught it completely.'”

A gorgeous account of the sentimental sadist, seasoned with scandal and nostalgia'
Witty, scandalous and horribly riveting'. The Sunday Times
This lively, well-written biography is studded with the sort of anecdotes Dempster would have relished... (But) is is more than a portrait of a man; it is a portrait of a pre-Twitter age. Dempster prefigured our celebrity culture and in the end was submerged by it...' The Evening Standard
This alluring biography chronicles the extraordinary changes British society has undergone in the past few decades and accurately defines the columnist s own part in that seismic shift. It s a dazzling read, a helter-skelter ride through High Society and Fleet Street...' The Sunday Express
Not just a fine portrait of a diarist, Tim Willis has anatomised a society in flux' The Lady
A must for anyone interested in showbusiness and how it is reported News of The World
Effervescent, elegantly written and faultlessly researched... Tim Willis has caught the atmosphere of the Dempster decades with uncanny precision. Willis's book treats the many facets of Dempster, his braggadocio and his bonking, his swagger, his guile and his generosity with frankness and in fascinating detail.' The Spectator

A freelance writer and editor, Tim Willis has worked for most of Britain's national newspapers and some of its glossier magazines. He is also the author of Madcap (Short Books, 2002), a well-received biography of Pink Floyd's 'crazy diamond' Syd Barrett. Tim lives in Pershore, Worcestershire.

From the early sixties to the mid-eighties as the editor of Dempster's Diary on the Daily Mail, Dempster was the man perfectly placed and qualified to record - and accelerate - the end of the age of deference. For many years, for many people, Dempster was the Daily Mail. His diary, with its scurrilous revelations about the great, the good, and the not-so good, was the only page to read. In his kipper ties and natty blazers, he brought a raffish sparkle to a dull decade, exposing the infidelities of Harold Pinter and Lady Antonia Fraser or James Goldsmith and Annabel Birley, paying tipsters like the bouffant Lord Lichfield with crates of champagne, and sometimes breaking stories of national importance - the collapse of Princess Margaret's marriage, the resignation of Harold Wilson. But, for all his convivial charm, his canny ability to infiltrate the smart set, Dempster led a rather strange, lonely life, marred by broken relationships and an on-off battle with drinking. In this riveting book, Tim Willis charts Dempster's bibulous journey through old Fleet Street and society as a tragic-comic romp. In so doing, he provides a portrait of an age.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.