McCrum, Robert

(British, 1953– )

McCrum was born in Cambridge, where he was educated at the University, before becoming an editor and writer. In the Secret State (1980), his first novel, is a good introduction to the unsettling world of political corruption and psychological isolation featured in much of his writing. As traditional values decay, the book's disenchanted bureaucrats cynically manipulate the political system in order to preserve their hold on power. Vividly depicting events during the Prague Spring of 1968, The Fabulous Englishman (1984) deals with a once-successful English author whose journey to Prague involves him in painful confrontations with his past. McCrum's other novels include The Psychological Moment (1993), dealing with a presidential speech-writer in retreat at Cape Cod who is beset by treacheries and painful personal choices when he learns of a British political conspiracy.

Piers Paul Read, Frederic Raphael, James Buchan. See ADVENTURE  DH