Publisher George Weidenfeld: A Maverick Who Became a Lord

The ebullient Weidenfeld, who seems to have hosted several parties a week for most of his 96 years, promoted free speech for everyone, publishing controversial works such as ‘Lolita’ and ‘The Group.’

Open Media Ltd. via Wikimedia Commons
Lord Weidenfeld appears on 'After Dark,' 1991. Open Media Ltd. via Wikimedia Commons

‘The Maverick: George Weidenfeld and the Golden Age of Publishing’
By Thomas Harding
Pegasus Books, 336 pages

In 1938, George Weidenfeld, an Austrian-Jewish refugee, landed at London. Speaking several languages and conversant in the literature of Europe, he had a gift for friendship that soon enthralled Nigel Nicolson, who persuaded his parents, Sir Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West, to bankroll Weidenfeld and Nicolson, which became known as a publisher of controversial works such as “Lolita” and “The Group.”

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