Alan Brien

Who was Alan Brien?

Alan Brien was an English journalist best known for his novel Lenin. This took the form of a fictional diary charting Lenin's life from the death of his father to shortly before his own demise in 1924.

Brien was born in Sunderland and educated at Bede Grammar School, and Jesus College, Oxford. He served in the Royal Air Force during World War II.

During his career in journalism, Brien worked as a theatre and film critic, columnist and foreign correspondent for a variety of publications, most notably The Sunday Times, Punch, the New Statesman and The Observer. Brien was married to the British journalist and feminist writer Jill Tweedie.

Brien died on 23 May 2008, survived by his fourth wife, the writer Jane Hill, with whom he had shared an ancient cottage in Highgate Village.