In the late 1980s Dirk returned from two idyllic decades in France to live in London. Shortly afterwards, the then Literary Editor of The Daily Telegraph, admiring the ‘lucid frankness’ of Bogarde’s memoirs, invited him to review some books for the newspaper. Over the next eight years or so, Bogarde wrote much of the criticism, essays, obituaries, fragments of autobiography and appreciations which are collected in this volume - a body of work that offers fascinating insights into his life, his mind and his forthright opinions.