Gerald Frost
Portrait of a Cold War Warrior as an Artist
MEETING THE 'OTHER' Brian Croziers turned out be something of a shock. The Brian Crozier that the world knows as former Cold Warrior and scourge of the Left seems an altogether different chap from the multiple 'Croziers' whose diverse artistic achievements are recorded in this unusual volume.
Indeed, even in physical terms the latter-day Crozier seems to bear little resemblance to the bearded Crozier whose picture appears on the cover. This could conceivably be that of a Spanish anarchist or an angst-ridden French existentialist philosopher, but, even allowing for the difference in years, it doesn't look much like the genial, dynamic impresario of intelligence and counter-espionage whose passionate opposition to Communism led him to create his own network of agents. This latter Crozier, whom I know as a friend and ally, was - or rather is, even in his eighties - energetic, engaging, flamboyant, hugely self-confident, optimistic, generous, and invariably cheerful. Even at the height of the Cold War it was impossible to talk to him without feeling one's spirits lifted, whether the topic of discussion was Soviet expansionism or Western gullibility. It was perfectly obvious that if only enough people could be persuaded to see things Brian's way, the West was
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