Storyteller : The Many Lives of Laurens Van Der Post

When he died in 1996, Laurens van der Post was a celebrated polymath: war-hero, writer, explorer, mystic, Jungian, behind-the-scenes diplomat and sage to Mrs Thatcher and Prince Charles. He was a secular saint. After this biography, Post should be most famous for one skill: storytelling. His books and stories (of the bushmen of the Kalahari, of his friendship with Jung, of his diplomatic importance) may be inspiring. They are also largely fabricated. Jones’ account reveals Post as enchanting, ambiguous, inspiring, complex, misleading, sometime admirable, sometimes risable – and sometimes as a shockingly culpable fabulist and liar.