Personal tribute from our Chairman to a late, great servant of his country
With pride, we publicise the posthumous launch of Sir Christopher Meyer’s book “Survivors”
Montage © Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2024
Part-history, part-biography, part-novel, the former US Ambassador’s novel was his final project and is a compelling read
It has been 18 months since Sir Christopher Meyer KCMG – former UK Ambassador to the United States - died suddenly from heart failure in his holiday home in his beloved Megève in the Haute-Savoie department of France, where he is now buried in the local graveyard. I was privileged to have known him a little and his death came as a great shock to me, to his family and to his many friends.
Had he had advance warning, ‘Sir Socks’ (as he was known online), would have been very cross because he was about to fulfil a long-held ambition of completing a novel. It was a project which dominated his life for several years. Thanks to the efforts of his widow, Catherine The Rt Hon Baroness Meyer CBE, this novel is now finally published.
Facts4EU.Org summary
- About Sir Christopher
- About ‘Survivors’
- Personal message to our readers from Baroness Meyer
- PMs, senior politicians, and world celebrities line up for the book’s launch
- Tribute to the late Sir Christopher from our Chairman
Readers can buy the book on Amazon here
(Facts4EU and CIBUK receive no royalties from sales - this is for love not money.)
This book is a riveting and highly educational read and I - and the teams at Facts4EU and at CIBUK - are pleased to have worked with Baroness Meyer to bring it to the attention of all our readers.
About Sir Christopher
The late Sir Christopher Meyer KCMG (22 Feb 1944 – 27 Jul 2022) was a British diplomat who served as the Ambassador to the United States (1997–2003), Ambassador to Germany (1997), and as chairman of the Press Complaints Commission (2003–2009).
He was ineffably charming, an excellent communicator, and a great servant for his country.
A regular television, radio and newspaper commentator on international affairs and the media, Sir Christopher presented and co-wrote a six-part TV documentary series for Sky Atlantic, 'Networks of Power', and a three-part series, 'Getting our Way', for the BBC, as well as several documentaries for BBC Radio.
He authored three books, including 'DC Confidential', the best-selling memoir of his 40 years in the Diplomatic Service. 'Survivors', published posthumously, is his first - and sadly last - novel.
Sir Christopher was married to Catherine, the Rt Hon Baroness Meyer CBE, the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Ukraine and an active board member of the Transatlantic Forum for Education and Diplomacy.
Baroness Meyer is also a Patron of CIBUK.Org with which Facts4EU.Org is closely associated. As you will see, her family is integral to the story I am about to tell you.
Right: Sir Christopher and his wife Baroness Meyer in Paris
About ‘Survivors’
‘Survivors’ is an historical drama illustrating a period of history - still little known in the West - which covers events from the Russian Revolution to World War II.
It is an extraordinary saga worthy of being made into a Hollywood movie, chronicling these events and with the added bonus of interweaving the real life story of the Baroness Meyer’s own family.
Loosely based on Baroness Meyer’s mother’s life, the story begins the day her mother was born in March 1917, with the toppling of 1,100 years of Imperial rule in the world’s largest nation - Russia.
Part-biography, part-history, part-novel
On a wintry day in St Petersburg, Katya – the Countess Ekaterina Polkonina – gives birth to a baby girl. But outside the cloistered confines of the Polkonin family palace, the Russian Revolution stalks the streets.
All too soon, Katya’s aristocratic world crumbles around her. With her husband Andrey away at the front, she must learn to adapt to protect herself and her two young daughters. As the tumult in Russia spills onto the global stage, the Polkonin family find themselves adrift in a rapidly changing world.
A world where old ways, old rules and old loves fall away in the face of new dangers, new passions and new-found courage.
This sweeping family saga follows Katya and her family's perilous journey across the world. It takes us across Siberia and then details how, escaping capture and execution by the Bolsheviks, they finally reached Manchuria in 1920 only to find themselves caught up in the power struggle between Chinese warlords, in the Chinese civil war, and then in the Japanese invasions. The family was forced to flee again, first to Peking and then to Shanghai.
By the time Japan entered WWII, Baroness Meyer’s mother had moved to Hanoi and finally to Saigon where at last she found love and security.
Buy 'Survivors' now
Readers can buy the book on Amazon here
Hardback and Kindle versions are now available, with an audiobook to come.
The book launch - former PMs, Government Ministers, former Ministers, celebrities
Given the nature of the man it is perhaps not surprising that so many senior politicians and celebrities are attending the launch of Sir Christopher’s ‘Survivors’.
Hosted by The Baroness Meyer (pictured right), many Peers, former PMs, Ministers, MPs and others will be there on the 24th of this month. I will be privileged to attend.
The book launch features a Q&A compered by Christiane Amanpour of CNN
The compere for a question and answer session will be Christiane Amanpour, the Chief International Anchor for CNN and host of CNN International's nightly interview program as well as the Amanpour hour on Saturdays.
She is also the presenter of Amanpour & Company on America's respected PBS.
The guest list for this event is extraordinary and is a testimony of the enormous warmth felt for him and the esteem in which Sir Christopher was held.
The ‘back story’
Baroness Meyer’s mother had begged Sir Christopher to write her story. Once he took on the task, he was so enthralled that he let his imagination run, introducing fictitious characters, and new intrigues – some of which were plucked from his own experience as an FCO diplomat in Moscow during the Cold War.
‘Survivors’ is a fascinating tale written in Christopher’s wonderfully lucid style. He always knew how to deliver a compelling narrative and ‘Survivors’ is certainly that. He would have been delighted to know it has finally been printed. We are therefore equally delighted to promote it – for love not money.
OBSERVATIONS FROM OUR CHAIRMAN
Sir Christopher was an extraordinary man, as all who knew him will testify. Many obituaries have been written but this article is about a legacy he left us. It is only in later life that an energetic man such as Christopher could get around to writing something like ‘Survivors’.
We applaud the efforts of Baroness Meyer in getting this published after his (big) heart gave out. I hope that those of you who buy the book will find it as fascinating as I did.
On a personal note, with Christopher's passing, a bright, shining light went out in the universe. I'm honoured to have been asked by Catherine, The Baroness Meyer, for the teams at Facts4EU.Org and CIBUK.Org to take responsibility for publicising the launch of a book by which we can all remember him. He would have been thrilled.
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[ Source: Catherine, The Rt Hon Baroness Meyer CBE ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Fri 12 Jan 2024
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