Gordon Brook-Shepherd

Fred Gordon Brook-Shepherd, CBE (born Fred Gordon Shepherd; 24 March 1918, Nottingham - 24 January 2004, London) was a British intelligence agent, journalist, and historian. Stationed in Europe during World War II and in Vienna during Austria's occupation by the allies, he became a noted expert on the recent history of the country, especially on the lives of the last ruling Habsburgs, the psychological and political turbulence of the interwar period, and the Anschluss. He also wrote on the subject of British and Soviet intelligence.

Early life

Gordon Brook-Shepherd, né Shepherd, was born on 24 March 1918 in Nottingham. His father, an architect, died in World War I. Educated at Latymer Upper School, Brook-Shepherd showed an early gift for linguistics. He was reading history at Peterhouse, Cambridge when World War II approached.

In 1945, Germany having collapsed and Austria having been occupied by the Four Powers, Brook-Shepherd was sent to work for the British High Commission in Vienna. He worked as a secretary for the Joint Intelligence Committee; his office was the former sitting room of Empress Zita in Schönbrunn Palace, a place that had long fascinated him. He formed friendships in aristocratic circles in Vienna and eventually married one of their members, Lorle von Brück-Sochor. He also began writing books. In addition to his work as a journalist and historian, Brook-Shepherd served on a number of committees furthering Anglo-Austrian relations. From 1991 to 1999, he was the chairman of SOS Children's Villages UK. and Otto von Habsburg.

Brook-Shepherd's two most influential books on Austrian history are Dollfuss, his eponymous 1961 biography of the interwar Austrofascist dictator, and Anschluss, his 1963 account of the incorporation of Austria into the German Reich. Dollfuss was hailed as "overdue". While Gehl described the Anschluss mainly as the result of Hermann Göring's forceful personality and Hitler's vacillating indecision, Brook-Shepherd took a more systemic view. Starting his account in 1931, earlier than other historians at the time, he emphasised the roles of impersonal social forces as well as happenstance; he also ascribed comparatively complex sets of mutually contradictory personal and ideological goals to many of the actors. On the other hand, Brook-Shepherd was accused of downplaying, "as an Englishman", the role played by British Appeasement policy.

Death

Brook-Shepherd died on 24 January 2004, aged 85.

Awards

1979: Officer's Cross of the Grand Decoration of Honour 1987: Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Selected publications

published in the USA as:

Translations