Faking It
from bookie's son to baron: the incredible life of Brian Leese
1st Edition
Published on 13. August 2022
120 pages
978-1-83978-518-4 (ISBN)
Description
He changed his name many times, deceived everyone he met, distanced himself from his parents and reinvented himself as an Irish baron. This is 'Faking It', the astonishing true story of author Mandy Moore's relative Brian Leese.Brian began as an ordinary schoolboy from London, became a Mormon in Salt Lake City, married an Indian princess in Ischia, Italy, had bisexual affairs and partied in Rome with European royalty and famous writers. After divorcing, he married a Finnish heiress, living a life of luxury in an Irish mansion, all the while lying about his education, upbringing and parentage, and portraying himself as an Irish baron. He wrote books on Irish genealogy, architecture and history but his life was funded by horseracing crime, Nazis in the Bahamas, and American mobsters.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Bishopstone
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Sea View Media
File size
9,87 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-83978-518-4 (9781839785184)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Content
- Intro
- Acknowledgements
- Picture and documents credits
- Preface
- 1. Two lucky escapes - out of Amsterdam and the East End
- East End squalor
- Follow the money - A move to Twickenham
- The dangerous world of bookmaking
- 2. The Leese family in the thirties
- 3. The war years
- Means, motive, opportunity
- Going to America
- 4. A new life in Salt Lake City
- Moses and Marguerite with the Mormons
- Brian breaks away
- 5. The O'Rourke barony and viscountcy of Breffny
- What are the chances?
- A brief history of the O'Rourkes
- 6. The celebrity playground of Ischia
- 7. A secret marriage to an Indian princess
- 8. The glamour of life in Rome
- Deception and falsehood
- A dalliance with Muriel Spark
- 9. A Finnish heiress, the Nazis and the Mafia
- The scandal of Sir Stafford Lofthouse Sands and his millions
- The Nazi connection
- The Mafia take control
- How much did Ulli know?
- Brian meets Ulli - and her fortune
- 10. A lavish life in a Palladian mansion
- Castletown Cox reborn
- 11. Sita-Maria and a royal connection
- Goodbye to Abbeyleix
- 12. A charmed life of literature and the arts
- 13. A tangled web
- The family left behind in London
- 14. Written in stone
- 15. Why did he do it?
- References
