Scandal at Dolphin Square: A Notorious History

By Simon Danczuk and Daniel Smith

'Compelling, authoritative and as readable as the best airport thriller. It fizzes with crime, fame, power and illicit sex.' Jeremy Vine
'A timely and important book. It's quite remarkable how one building has played host to such debauchery. If only the walls could talk…' Iain Dale
Designed as a city dwelling for the modern age, Dolphin Square opened in London's Pimlico in 1936. Boasting 1,250 hi-tech flats, a swimming pool, restaurant, gardens and shopping arcade, the complex quickly attracted a long list of the affluent and influential. But behind its veneer of respectability, the Square has become one of the country's most notorious addresses; a place where the private lives of those from the highest of high society and the lowest depths of the underworld have collided and played out over the best part of a century.
This is the story of the Square and its people, an ever-evolving cast of larger-than- life characters who have borne witness to, and played pivotal roles in, some of the most scandalous episodes of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. From Oswald Mosley and the Carry On gang to allegations of systematic sexual abuse, it is a saga replete with mysterious deaths, exploitation, espionage, illicit love affairs and glamour, shining a light on the changing nature of British politics and society in the modern age.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Feb 24, 2022
• ISBN: 9780750999823

Simon Danczuk

Simon Danczuk is the former MP for Rochdale and co-author of the bestselling Smile for the Camera: The Double Life of Cyril Smith (Biteback, 2014), which was named The Sunday Times Political Book of the Year. He has written widely for the national newspapers, such as the Mail on Sunday, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sun. Now living between London and Manchester, he still writes for a wide variety of organisations, and is currently working on another book.

Reviews for Scandal at Dolphin Square

[aadyer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting and intriguing account of a building that had some of the most colourful, despicable, and politically motivated individuals in the Britain of their day. Starting in the 1930’s, this is a biography very much of times and a place. The combination of location coupled with personality meant that this was never going to be a boring residence and this biography proves that.