The Heretic: the Life and Times of Josip Broz-Tito

by Fitzroy Maclean

Genres: Biography

436 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Major General Fitzroy Hew Royle Maclean, Bt, KT, CBE.

Graduate of Eton and subsequently King's College, University of Cambridge. Joined the Diplomatic Service in 1932. Posted to Paris from 1933-1937 and then the British Embassy to Moscow from 1937-1941.

Veteran of WWII. In 1941, he chose to enlist as a private in the Cameron Highlanders, but was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant the same year. He was one of the earliest members of the elite SAS. By the end of the war, had risen to the rank of Brigadier. Maclean wrote several books, including Eastern Approaches, in which he recounted three extraordinary series of adventures: traveling, often incognito, in Soviet Central Asia; fighting in the Western Desert Campaign (1941-1943), where he specialized in commando raids (with the Special Air Service Regiment) behind enemy lines; and living rough with Josip Broz Tito and his Yugoslav Partisans. It has been widely speculated that Ian Fleming used Maclean as one of his inspirations for James Bond.

Unionist Party (Scotland) member of Parliament (MP) from 1941-1974.

Awarded a baronetcy, becoming 1st Baronet, Maclean of Strachur and Glensluain. Invested a Knight of the Order of the Thistle (KT). Appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Recipient of the Croix de Guerre (France), the Order of Kutuzov (Soviet Union), the Order of the Partisan Star (Yugoslavia), and, posthumously, the Order of Prince Branimir (Croatia).

Reviews

[Manray9 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fitzroy Maclean's The Heretic: the Life and Times of Josip Broz-Tito is a remarkable account of Tito's rise from impoverished peasant boy, to hardened agent of the COMINTERN, to partisan fighter, leader of post-war Yugoslavia and guiding light of the Third World non-aligned movement. The book's great strength isn't found in its largest section -- the war and the Partisan victory – but instead in the clear insight into Yugoslavia's split with the USSR and Tito's falling out with Stalin; followed by the Yugoslav Communist Party's internal fracture between Tito (with the party leadership on his side) and Milovan Djilas and Vladimir Dedijer both of whom supported greater democratization and free expression. I've read both volumes of Djilas' memoirs (Memoir of a Revolutionary and Wartime) plus his outstanding Conversations with Stalin. Also, years ago, I read Dedijer's The Battle Stalin Lost: Memoirs of Yugoslavia 1948-1953. Maclean's biography provides a framework for the stories fleshed out by those two former comrades of Tito. I endorse Maclean's book for any reader interested in European Communist Party history and events in post-war Europe. Maclean earned Four Stars from me.

[John Farebrother · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another must-read for anyone interested in the Balkans. A far more in-depth study of Tito than that presented in Eastern Approaches, and put together based on the author's personal conversations with Tito. It tells the story of Tito's time as a POW in Russia, his work as a KPJ activist, WWII, the break with the West and Stalin, the creation of Tito's third way with the Non-Alignment Movement, and finally his death. The author ends on an optimistic note; sadly, events were to prove him wrong. But he returned to Yugoslavia in the 1990s war to help with the provision of humanitarian aid. A great book to read just before the memoirs of former Yugoslav president, Dizdarevic.

[Hanun · Rating 5 out of 5]

dad of my future children should read this banger

[Borja JS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una vida apasionante. Un hombre único. Una historia trepidante.