Christopher and His Kind

Isherwood's candid memoir of his life in 1930s Berlin. A seminal book of gay liberation which made him the grand old man of the movement.

In November 1929, Christopher Isherwood - determined to become a 'permanent foreigner' - packed a rucksack and two suitcases and left England on a one-way ticket for Berlin. With incredible candour and wit, Isherwood recalls the decadence of Berlin's night scene and his route to sexual liberation.

In 1929, Christopher Isherwood leaves England on a one-way ticket to Berlin.

He is determined to become a permanent foreigner, to lose himself – and discover his sexuality – in the boy bars of Berlin. The next ten years will be the most memorable of Isherwood’s life. With incredible candour and wit, Isherwood depicts the decadence of the city’s night scene and his route to sexual liberation. Yet something dark looms on the horizon. As the Nazis rise to power, Isherwood recounts his dramatic struggle to save his partner Heinz from persecution.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY GORE VIDAL

‘A truly masterly writer’ New York Times

‘A brilliant literary memoir’ Gore Vidal

‘Isherwood at his best’ New Statesman