Soldiers, Politicians and Other Animals

In this witty, engaging memoir, Miles Hudson, who served as Sir Alec Douglas-Home’s Political Secretary at the Foreign Office from 1970 to 1974, gives a vivid insight into his varied life and into British political circles of the post-war years. The son of the distinguished General Charles Edward Hudson, Miles followed his father into the Army towards the end of World War II and went on to serve in some of the far-flung outposts of the British Empire in its dying days. Nothing, it seemed, could quench his appetite for life and adventure – whether trekking in the Himalayas, hunting in the Alps, or falling in love. After leaving the Army, Miles Hudson joined the Conservative Research Department, where he eventually became head of the Overseas Affairs Department. In his capacity as Sir Alec Douglas-Home’s Political Secretary at the Foreign Office he travelled throughout the world, meeting some of the most prominent figures of the time. Alongside the story of Hudson’s fascinating life, there are vivid, incisive portraits of some of the Conservative Party’s leading figures from Home to Margaret Thatcher. But above all this book is a moving portrait of the writer himself – a man whom the BBC once described as breezily charming, intelligent and urbane.