"Dirk Bogarde (1921-1999) was known principally as the star of more than sixty films and a critically acclaimed author. To a privileged few, however, he was a prolific, stimulating and treasured correspondent." "Collected here, his letters represent an alternative autobiography, covering three decades. On display are the qualities familiar to those who knew the private Bogarde: acute observation, a laser-like intelligence, an easily-provoked waspishness, an aversion to the politically correct, a directness which could wound and offend, a robust compassion for the needy, a relish for the striking metaphor, and a catastrophic disdain for correct spelling and punctuation. As clouds gather over the Provencal idyll, forcing a return to London, his confidences grow more and more poignant. But the incisive humour survives."--BOOK JACKET.