BROOK-SHEPHERD, (Frederick) Gordon 1918-2004
(Gordon Shepherd)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born March 24, 1918, in England; died January 24, 2004. Journalist, editor, and author. Brook-Shepherd was well known for his reportage of events behind and near the Iron Curtain, as well as his books about the Habsburg family of Austria. After studying history at Peterhouse, Cambridge, he passed the civil service exam not long before the beginning of World War II. With a working knowledge of German and French, he was recruited into British Intelligence, where he was a liaison between the British government and resistance movements in Europe, becoming a lieutenant colonel. After the war, he was hired by the London Daily Telegraph as a foreign correspondent, despite his lack of journalism experience. His knowledge of European politics was more than enough to compensate, however, and Brook-Shepherd found himself on the forefront of reporting such events as the Communist overthrow of Czechoslovakia and the 1956 Hungarian Uprising, as well as events in other areas of the world, such as the Suez Canal crisis. Moving on to the Sunday Telegraph in 1960, Brook-Shepherd became the newspaper's diplomatic editor, then assistant editor in 1965, and finally deputy editor in 1975. The reporter and editor also developed a successful career as an author, writing biographies, histories, and books on political events. Among these are The Austrian Odyssey (1957), The Anschluss (1963), November 1918 (1981), and Iron Maze: The Western Secret Services and the Bolsheviks (1998). A personal friend of the Archduke Otto, son of Emperor Karl of Austria, Gordon-Shepherd penned several well-received biographies about the Habsburgs, including The Last Habsburg (1968) and The Last Empress: The Life and Times of Zita of Austria-Hungary, 1892-1989 (1991). His writings about Austria earned him praise in that country as well, and in 1979 he received its Officer's Cross of the Grand Decoration of Honour. His own country appointed him a Commander of the British Empire in 1987.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Daily Telegraph (London, England), January 30, 2004.

Times (London, England), February 20, 2004.