William Waldegrave

How troll stories blighted the life of Patrick O’Brian

The canards that circulated about his treatment of his first wife and family are finally laid to rest by Nikolai Tolstoy

issue 21 December 2019
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  • Patrick O’Brian: A Very Private Life

    Nikolai Tolstoy

    William Collins, pp. 576, £25

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Filthy, foetid and fraught with danger. A magnet for hooligans, hard drinkers, a few saints and plenty of sinners. And that was Fleet Street before the newspapers moved in. This ancient thoroughfare, in use since Roman times, is one of London’s most famous occupational streets, much as Jermyn Street is known for its tailors and Harley Street its medics. The difference is that Fleet Street is

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