20 ‘The P.M. is in fine form, as he always is when battles are raging well’

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. CONTENTS v
3. List of Abbreviations viii
4. Editor’s Note x
5. Chronology of Kathleen Harriman’s International Travels, 1941–6 xii
6. Introduction 1
7. Part One: London Letters (1941–3)
8. 1 ‘The P.M. is much smaller than I expected and a lot less fat – looks rather like a kindly blue teddy bear’ 15
9. 2 ‘When you stop to think about it, this really is a gay war’ 35
10. 3 ‘Imagine walking up to a guy and shaking hands with a fingerless stump’ 57
11. 4 ‘My God, the British press are skunks’ 68
12. 5 ‘I get so sick of being polite about our ambassador I feel like blowing off steam’ 81
13. 6 ‘I always hoped to be in London the night we got into the war. Somehow it’s more exciting’ 100
14. 7 ‘I’m trying to brush up on past European history – I still can’t tell a Rumanian from a Croat or a Serb’ 111
15. 8 ‘America certainly isn’t in a war spirit’ 124
16. 9 ‘The highlight of my career centers now around a most glamorous creature, General Anders by name, Polish by birth’ 136
17. 10 ‘Our generals are a success – unfortunately they aren’t very socially minded’ 152
18. 11 ‘The British ambassador to Moscow – the most divine creature I’ve met in a long time!’ 177
19. 12 ‘Have you ever been called a bitch to end all bitches?’ 199
20. Part Two: Moscow Letters (1943–6)
21. 13 ‘One of the amazing things about Russia – you can get yourself understood minus a common language’ 213
22. 14 ‘Maybe I’m just crazy, but I’m enjoying myself thoroughly – and I’m determined not to get into what seems to be a hellova rut’ 234
23. 15 ‘This really is the damnedest town – impersonal as hell, but still retains an atmosphere and makes a marked impression on you’ 244
24. 16 ‘The Katyn Forest turned out to be a small measly pine tree wood’ 269
25. 17 ‘The press returned from Leningrad a couple of days back full of gruesome tales of the siege’ 281
26. 18 ‘Madame Molotov is a sweet little thing, plays the harp, is middle-aged, with large quantities of braided undyed blonde hair’ 291
27. 19 ‘Shostakovich seemed a nice guy, but very definitely an introverted genius type’ 305
28. 20 ‘The P.M. is in fine form, as he always is when battles are raging well’ 319
29. 21 ‘What surprised me most was Tito’s hands, the hands of a pampered politician rather than a guerrilla chieftain’ 346
30. 22 ‘The most exciting thing is that at last I’ve met Stalin’ 369
31. 23 ‘The President is absolutely charming, easy to talk to on any subject. The war is seldom mentioned except its lighter side’ 386
32. 24 ‘Our gallant allies are being most bastard-like’ 401
33. 25 ‘Met a very fine old lady at lunch – Madame Kollontai – a revolutionist from way back’ 410
34. 26 ‘Sweden’s definitely second-rate’ 433
35. 27 ‘I can’t think of any man I’ve yet met that’s as great as Eisenhower, plus he’s so damn swell’ 441
36. 28 ‘Our biggest news is our owl – Aloise – sounds ferocious but quite beautiful & full of charm’ 453
37. Part Three: Kathleen Harriman’s Moscow Memoir
38. 29 ‘Do the crows still roost in the Spasopeskovskaya trees?’ 461
39. List of Plates 467
40. Sources and Acknowledgements 469
41. Further Reading 472
42. Index of Names 475
43. Plates 489