Elusive Rothschild

"Victor, 3rd Baron Rothschild (1910-1990), lived the lives of a dozen men. Heir to a dynasty of bankers, he chose to be a zoologist whose studies on the love life of the sea urchin and other species in time bought him election to the Royal Society. 'Do not take frogs' eggs into the bank', King George V chaffed the young scientist." "His leisure hours, too, glowed with promise and achievement. As a county cricketer he faced the bodyline bowling of Harold Larwood. He formed the most complete collection in private hands of English eighteenth-century first editions. He was an accomplished jazz pianist." "Throughout the war he served in M15 as head of counter-sabotage. One duty was to examine presents of food, drink and cigars sent to Winston Churchill in case they contained poison or explosives. For his cold courage in defusing a new type of time bomb hidden by German agents in ships bound for Britain he was awarded the George Medal." "Having spent a decade directing research for the Royal Dutch Shell group, he was chosen by Edward Heath to be the first head of the Think Tank that offered independent advice to the Cabinet on problems as diverse as race relations and nuclear reactors, Concorde and coal." "The Whitehall mandarins resented Rothschild's intrusion, but he went on to be Chairman of the Royal Commission on Gambling and a member of the committee that advised Margaret Thatcher on the Poll Tax." "His last years were clouded by misfortune. Among his early intimates at Cambridge were Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt. When one defected to Moscow and the other confessed to having been a Soviet spy, those carefree friendships returned to haunt him. Pilloried in press and parliament, he sought vindication by unwise means."--BOOK JACKET.