A biography of Moura Budberg

Back in 2007, I wrote a short article about Moura Budberg for the New Statesman website. Moura may or may not have been a Soviet spy: she was certainly Nick Clegg's great great aunt.

Now comes news that a biography of her is on its way. A Very Dangerous Woman by Deborah McDonald and Jeremy Dronfield will be published in May.

On her website, Deborah McDonald writes:

This is the first book to make use of the Freedom of Information Act to evaluate the woman who was Moura. MI5 files, Lockhart’s unpublished diary, letters and extensive interviews with those who knew her help create a detailed and vibrant picture of one of the most fascinating women of the 20th century. 

As her lover H G Wells wrote, ‘But the Moura who was never really there has vanished now for ever and nothing in earth or heaven can bring her back.’