Bloch's books include several about the Duke and Duchess, an authorized biography of James Lees-Milne, a study of the Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe,[4] and a biography of Frederick Matthias Alexander, founder of the Alexander Technique.[5] 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".[6] 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".[7]
Books
Michael Bloch, The Duke of Windsor's War (Weidenfeld, 1982) ISBN0-297-77947-8
Michael Bloch, Operation Willi (Weidenfeld, 1984)
Wallis and Edward: The Intimate Correspondence of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (Weidenfeld, 1986) ISBN0-671-61209-3
Michael Bloch, The Secret File of the Duke of Windsor (Bantam Press, 1988) ISBN0-593-01667-X
Michael Bloch, The Reign and Abdication of Edward VIII (Bantam Press, 1990)
Michael Bloch, Ribbentrop (Bantam Press, 1992)
Michael Bloch, The Duchess of Windsor (Weidenfeld, 1996), ISBN978-0297835905
Michael Bloch, FM: The Life of Frederick Matthias Alexander, Founder of the Alexander Technique (Little Brown, 2004)
Michael Bloch, James Lees-Milne: The Life (John Murray, 2009) ISBN978-0719565502
Michael Bloch, Jeremy Thorpe (Little Brown, 2014)
Michael Bloch, Closet Queens: Some 20th Century British Politicians (Little Brown, 2015)
Bloch edited the later diaries of James Lees-Milne 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).
Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, known as Wallis Simpson, was an American socialite and wife of the Duke of Windsor, the former King-Emperor Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a constitutional crisis that led to Edward's abdication.
Mary of Teck was Queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress consort of India, from 6 May 1910 until 29 January 1936 as the wife of King-Emperor George V.
In 1936 a constitutional crisis in the British Empire arose when King-Emperor Edward VIII proposed to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who was divorced from her first husband and was pursuing the divorce of her second.
Arthur Bamber Gascoigne was an English television presenter and author. He was the original quizmaster on University Challenge, which initially ran from 1962 to 1987.
John Jeremy Thorpe 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 Old Bailey on charges of conspiracy and incitement to murder, arising from an earlier relationship with Norman Scott, a former model. Thorpe was acquitted on all charges, but the case, and the furore surrounding it, ended his political career.
Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the theatre.
Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, later Princess of Leiningen and subsequently Duchess of Kent and Strathearn, was a German princess and the mother of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. As the widow of Charles, Prince of Leiningen (1763–1814), from 1814 she served as regent of the Principality during the minority of her son from her first marriage, Carl, until her second wedding in 1818 to Prince Edward, fourth son of King George III of the United Kingdom.
St Mary's Hospital is an NHS hospital in Paddington, in the City of Westminster, London, founded in 1845. Since the UK's first academic health science centre was created in 2008, it has been operated by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, which also operates Charing Cross Hospital, Hammersmith Hospital, Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital and the Western Eye Hospital.
(George) James Henry Lees-Milne 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 extensive diaries remain in print.
Frederick Matthias Alexander, an Australian actor and author, developed the Alexander Technique, an educational process that recognizes and overcomes reactive, habitual limitations in movement and thinking.
Dame Margaret Helen Greville, Hon. Mrs Ronald Greville,, was a British society hostess and philanthropist. She was the wife of the Hon. Ronald Greville (1864–1908).
Lt.-Gen. Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke, 6th Earl of Montgomery was an English peer and courtier. He was the heir and eldest son of Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke and his first wife Margaret Sawyer. He was styled Lord Herbert from birth until he inherited his father's earldoms of Pembroke and Montgomery in 1733.
The Château de la Croë is a large detached villa situated in eight hectares of grounds on the Cap d'Antibes peninsula of the Côte d'Azur, in the Alpes-Maritimes department of southern France. The classical-style château was designed by architect Armand-Albert Rateau and built in 1927 for Sir Pomeroy Burton, general manager of Associated Newspapers.
Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India from 20 January 1936 until his abdication in December of the same year.
Loelia Mary, Lady Lindsay, néePonsonby, was a British peeress, needlewoman and magazine editor.
Ronald Fleming was an English interior decorator.
The wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha took place on 10 February 1840 at Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, in London.
Randal John Somerled McDonnell, 8th Earl of Antrim (1911–1977) was a diplomat, activist, soldier and administrator from Northern Ireland. He became chairman of the National Trust in 1965.
Geoffrey Alban Michael Houghton Brown was an artist and connoisseur.
Edward, Duke of Windsor, and Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, visited Nazi Germany in October 1937. Edward had abdicated the British throne in December 1936, and his brother George VI had become king. Edward had been given the title Duke of Windsor and married Wallis Simpson in June 1937. He appeared to have been sympathetic to Germany in this period and, that September, announced his intention to travel privately to Germany to tour factories. His interests, officially into researching the social and economic conditions of the working classes, were against the backdrop of looming war in Europe. The Duke's supporters saw him as a potential peacemaker between Britain and Germany, but the UK Government refused to sanction such a role and was against the tour, suspecting that the Nazis would use the Duke's presence for propaganda. Windsor was keen that his wife—who had been rejected by the British establishment—experience a state visit as his consort. He promised the government to keep a low profile; the tour went ahead between 12 and 23 October 1937.
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