David Pryce-Jones

Pryce-Jones was born on 15 February 1936, in Vienna, Austria.Ellen Doon. [http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.prycejon "Alan Pryce-Jones Papers"], Yale, New Haven, Connecticut. May 2003. Retrieved 28 February 2008. He was educated at Eton and earned a degree in history at Magdalen College, Oxford. While at Oxford in 1957, he was runner-up for the Newdigate Prize. {{Cite web|last=Snowman|first=Daniel|date=January 21, 2016|title=Review: Fault Lines|url=https://www.thejc.com/culture/books/review-fault-lines-1.57850|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-01|website=The Jewish Chronicle|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901220536/https://www.thejc.com/culture/books/review-fault-lines-1.57850 |archive-date=1 September 2021 }}

He is the son of writer Alan Payan Pryce-Jones (1908–2000) by his first wife (married 1934), Therese "Poppy" Fould-Springer (1914–1953) of the Fould family.The year of death is from the Pryce Jones papers at Yale and other sources. [http://www.recyclegen.com/archives/montg_coll/nop/pryce/pr_alan.htm Burke's Peerage 103rd edition (1963)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416060647/http://www.recyclegen.com/archives/montg_coll/nop/pryce/pr_alan.htm |date=16 April 2009 }} apparently gives the year wrongly as 1952, unless the error is in the transfer to online data. The Fould Springer genealogical notes by Anne Yamey (below) incorrectly give her date of death as 1997. Therese was a daughter of Baron Eugène Fould-Springer, a French-born banker who was a cousin of Achille Fould, and Marie-Cecile or Mitzi Springer, later Mrs Frank Wooster or Mary Wooster,According to the [http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/2354 New York Social Diary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115232435/http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/2354 |date=15 January 2008 }}, Wooster had been a lover of her husband and had lived with them in a troika before Eugène died. The widow and the bereaved lover then married; he lived until 1953. The story, well known to their circle, was not revealed publicly until her British son-in-law Alan Pryce Jones wrote about it in his memoirs. See also [http://betwixteurope.blogspot.com/2007/05/mystery-two-love-story-via-wodehouse_17.html another story on how the Fould-Springers met Wooster] whose father was the industrialist Baron Gustav Springer (1842–1920) son of Baron Max Springer.{{cite news|title=Baroness Elie de Rothschild|work=The Telegraph|date=20 February 2003|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/02/21/db2101.xml|accessdate=8 February 2008}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite news|title=CARTER TOO JEWISH FOR JEWISH ROLE|publisher=Contact Music|date=24 October 2006|url=http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/carter%20too%20jewish%20for%20jewish%20role_1011743|accessdate=13 July 2007|archive-date=11 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011192026/http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/carter%20too%20jewish%20for%20jewish%20role_1011743|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last=Weisbach|first=Rachel|title=Barmitzvah joy for Helena|publisher=SomethingJewish|year=2006|url=http://www.somethingjewish.co.uk/articles/2057_barmitzvah_joy_for_h.htm|accessdate=13 July 2007|archive-date=7 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807001631/http://www.somethingjewish.co.uk/articles/2057_barmitzvah_joy_for_h.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last=Costa|first=Maddy|title='It's all gone widescreen'|publisher=Guardian Unlimited|date=3 November 2006|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,1937548,00.html|accessdate=13 July 2007}}[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20030328/ai_n12674654 Obituary: Baroness Elie de Rothschild. Independent, The (London)] She also had a brother, Baron Max Fould-Springer (1906–1999), and two sisters Helene Propper de Callejón (1907–1997), wife of Spanish diplomat Eduardo Propper de Callejón and grandmother of actress Helena Bonham Carter, and Baroness Liliane de Rothschild (1916–2003).Anne Yamey. [http://groups.msn.com/YAMEYFAMILY/springer.msnw Springer family: DANIEL and The FOULD-SPRINGER family] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113035223/http://groups.msn.com/YAMEYFAMILY/springer.msnw |date=13 November 2007 }}. Retrieved 28 February 2008. The title was granted by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria.

His parents married in 1934 in Vienna, where Pryce-Jones was born. His mother's Jewish background made it unwise to remain in Vienna and the family moved to England at the end of 1937.Ellen Doon. [http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.prycejon "Alan Pryce-Jones Papers"], Yale, New Haven, Connecticut. May 2003. Retrieved 8 November 2021 In 1940, a four-year-old Pryce-Jones was stranded with his nanny in Dieppe, Normandy and was rescued from the invading German army by his mother's brother-in-law Eduardo Propper de Callejón.Jenni Frazer. Ibid He acknowledged his uncle-by-marriage's efforts in saving his own life when Propper de Callejón retired from Spanish diplomatic service.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

Pryce-Jones is a first cousin of Elena Propper de Callejón, wife of late banker Raymond Bonham Carter and mother of actress Helena Bonham Carter. Another cousin is Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild, only son of the better known Baron Élie de Rothschild.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

Pryce-Jones did his National Service in the Coldstream Guards, in which he was commissioned in 1955, promoted lieutenant in 1956, and served in the British Army of the Rhine. In 1956, Pryce-Jones lectured the men under his command about the necessity of the Suez War, but admits that he did not believe what he was saying.Gellner, Ernest "Up From Imperialism" pp. 34–36 from The New Republic, Volume 200, Number 21, Issue #3, 879, 22 May 1989 p. 34 At the time, he believed that the Islamic world would soon progress after decolonization, and was disappointed when this did not happen. He has worked as a journalist and author. He was literary editor at the Financial Times 1959–61, and The Spectator from 1961 to 1963.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

Pryce-Jones is a senior editor at National Review magazine. He also contributes to The New Criterion and Commentary, and for Benador Associates. He often writes about the contemporary events and the history of the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and intelligence matters.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

In his 1989 book The Closed Circle, Pryce-Jones examined what he considered to be the reasons for the backward state of the Arab world. A review described the book as more of an "indictment" than an examination of the Arab world. In Pryce-Jones's opinion, the root cause of Arab backwardness is the tribal nature of Arab political life, which reduces all politics to war of rival families struggling mercilessly for power. As such, Pryce-Jones's view is that power in Arab politics consists of a network of client–patron relations between powerful and less powerful families and clans.Gellner, Ernest "Up From Imperialism" pp. 34–36 from The New Republic, Volume 200, Number 21, Issue #3, 879, 22 May 1989 p. 35 Pryce-Jones considers as an additional retarding factor in Arab society the influence of Islam, which hinders efforts to build a Western style society where the family and clan are not the dominant political unit. Pryce-Jones argues that Islamic fundamentalism is a means of attempting to mobilize the masses behind the dominant clans.Gellner, Ernest "Up From Imperialism" pp. 34–36 from The New Republic, Volume 200, Number 21, Issue #3, 879, 22 May 1989 p. 36

In his book, Betrayal: France, the Arabs, and the Jews, he has accused the French government of being anti-Semitic and pro-Arab, and of consistently siding against Israel in the hope of winning the favour of the Islamic world.{{sfn|Gordon|2007|p=48}} The book's premise has been likened to Bat Ye'or's Eurabia theory,{{cite news|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2012/05/28/le-monde-manicheen-d-eurabia_1708436_3232.html|title=Le monde manichéen d'Eurabia|date=28 May 2012|work=Le Monde|language=French}} which has been praised by Pryce-Jones as "prophetic".{{cite book|url=https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781611474466/Europe-Globalization-and-the-Coming-of-the-Universal-Caliphate|title=Europe, Globalization, and the Coming of the Universal Caliphate|work=Rowman & Littlefield|accessdate=20 December 2022}} The American diplomat Philip H. Gordon gave a highly unfavorable review of Betrayal in Foreign Affairs, describing the book as a French-bashing "polemic" disguised as a work of history.{{sfn|Gordon|2007|p=48}} Gordon accused Pryce-Jones of hypocrisy, noting that he took successive French governments to task for supporting Middle Eastern dictators like President Saddam Hussein of Iraq while failing to note that both the United States and the United Kingdom have also supported Middle Eastern dictators.{{sfn|Gordon|2007|p=48}} Gordon wrote that Pryce-Jones's claim that French President Jacques Chirac was guilty of "perfidy" towards the West by opposing the Iraq War in 2003 was unfair, writing in 2007 that much of what happened in Iraq since 2003 appeared to justify Chirac's predictions of a debacle if the United States invaded.{{sfn|Gordon|2007|p=48}}

Pryce-Jones wrote a biography, Evelyn Waugh and His World (1973). It was rather notorious for digging up conflict among the married Mitford siblings, with Pamela accusing Jessica of revealing private correspondence concerning their sister the Duchess of Devonshire. The 1976 biography Unity Mitford: A Quest followed, despite alleged efforts by some of Unity Mitford's sisters to prevent Pryce-Jones from doing his research and publishing the book.David Pryce-Jones, [https://www.spectator.com.au/2015/03/you-are-always-close-to-me-unity-mitfords-souvenirs-of-hitler/ ‘You are always close to me’: Unity Mitford’s souvenirs of Hitler],The Spectator Australia, 28 March 2015.

He married Clarissa Caccia, daughter of diplomat Harold Caccia, Baron Caccia, in 1959.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} They have three surviving children, (one deceased, Sonia: 1970–1972), Jessica, Candida and Adam, and live in London.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} Jessica is married to the BBC journalist David Shukman.{{cite journal |title=Shukman, David Roderick |journal=Who's Who |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U2000161 }}{{cite news |title=How to be a good (cancer) patient |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/how-to-be-a-good-cancer-patient-jq0xbwlc7 |access-date=10 February 2020 |work=The Times |date=30 December 2017}}

• Inheritance (1992)
• The Afternoon Sun (1986) {{ISBN|0-297-78822-1}}
• Shirley’s Guild (1979)
• The England Commune (1975)
• Running Away (1971)
• The Stranger’s View (1967)
• Quondam (1965)
• The Sands of Summer (1963)
• Owls & Satyrs (1961)

• Signatures (Encounter Books, 2020){{Cite web|url=https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/may-2020/a-brave-voice-against-the-barbarians/|title = A brave voice against the barbarians | Daniel Johnson|date = 29 April 2020}}
• Fault Lines (2015)
• Treason of the Heart. From Thomas Paine to Kim Philby (2011) Encounter Books, {{ISBN|1-5940-3528-8}}
• Betrayal: France, the Arabs, and the Jews (2006) {{ISBN|1-59403-151-7}}
• A Very Elegant Coup, (2003), a review of the book All the Shah's Men
• The Strange Death of the Soviet Empire (1995) {{ISBN|0-8050-4154-0}}
• The War that Never Was: The Fall of the Soviet Empire 1985–1991 (1995) {{ISBN|0-297-81320-X}}
• You Can't be Too Careful (1992)
• The Closed Circle (1989)
• Cyril Connolly: Journal & Memoir (1983) {{ISBN|0-00-216546-5}}
• Paris in the Third Reich (1981)
• Vienna (1978)
• Unity Mitford (1976)
• Evelyn Waugh & his world (1973)
• The Face of Defeat (1972)
• The Hungarian Revolution (1969)
• Next Generation: Travels in Israel (1965)
• Graham Greene (1963)

{{Reflist}}

• Ellen Doon. [http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.prycejon "Alan Pryce-Jones Papers"], Yale, New Haven, Connecticut. May 2003. This also lists some of David Pryce-Jones's British aristocratic connections at the end. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
• Jenni Frazer. [http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?AId=57933&SecId=11&ParentId=m11 "How Helena’s grandfather was finally recognised as a true hero"] The Jewish Chronicle 8 February 2008, narrating how Eduardo Propper de Callejón was recognized as "Righteous Among Nations" recently. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
• Eric Pace. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02EEDA143FF931A35751C0A9669C8B63 Alan Pryce-Jones, 91, Editor And Eminent Man of Letters"] (obituary). The New York Times, 2 February 2000. Retrieved 28 February 2008. For [http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Alt/alt.talk.royalty/2006-03/msg00179.html Pryce-Jones's ancestry]
• Anne Yamey. (May 2003?). [https://web.archive.org/web/20071113035223/http://groups.msn.com/YAMEYFAMILY/springer.msnw Springer and Fould-Springer families] of Ansbach. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
• Gellner, Ernest "Up From Imperialism" pp. 34–36 from The New Republic, Volume 200, Number 21, Issue #3, 879, 22 May 1989.
• {{cite journal |last=Gordon |first=Philip |title=Review of Betrayal: France, the Arabs, and the Jews by David Pryce-Jones |pages=148–149 |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=86 |issue=3 |date=May 2007}}

• [http://www.davidpryce-jones.com Official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070101105455/http://www.davidpryce-jones.com/ |date=1 January 2007 }} – David Pryce-Jones
• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.benadorassociates.com/pryce.php |date=* |title=David Pryce-Jones's bio in Benador Associates web site }}
• [https://www.commentarymagazine.com/author/pryce-jones/ Articles at Commentary]
• [http://www.nationalreview.com/author/david-pryce-jones David Pryce-Jones's articles at the National Review]

• [http://www.opinionjournal.com/weekend/fivebest/?id=110008565 Terror Tomes: Top books on unconventional warfare] – Editorial by David Pryce-Jones in The Wall Street Journal (2006-06-24)
• {{C-SPAN|1000366}}
• David Pryce-Jones Papers. James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

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Category:1936 births

Category:Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford

Category:British writers

Category:British male journalists

Category:Coldstream Guards officers

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature

Category:Living people

Category:National Review people

Category:People educated at Eton College

Category:Jewish British writers

Category:Fould family