Alan Don KCVO (1885–1966) straddled the worlds of Lambeth Palace, the Royal Household, the House of Commons and Westminster Abbey during fifteen historically significant years, including the rise of Hitler and the war with Germany of 1939-45. These previously unpublished diaries offer a wealth of detailed and perceptive insight into the ecclesiastical, parliamentary and royal affairs of Britain during times of national and international crisis. They also open a window on the history of the Church of England and its role in the social, political and military upheavals of the 1930s and 40s.

In May 1931, as Alan Don travelled from Dundee to Lambeth Palace to become Archbishop Cosmo Lang’s chaplain, he began a diary which he kept for the next fifteen years. He later became Chaplain to the King and to the Speaker. Don’s diaries are not narrowly churchy, but provide a fascinating picture of Britain and her élite in the 1930s and 40s. An array of personalities pass through these pages: clergy, the Royal Family, prime ministers, viceroys, politicians, musicians, artists, soldiers and diplomats, including Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi ambassador to London.

Don had a ringside view of the 1935 Silver Jubilee of George V, the King’s death and burial in 1936, and the Abdication Crisis later that year. Some courtiers used him as a channel secretly to convey information to Lang about Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. Don provides a poignant description of the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937. Don’s diaries also chart the agonizing descent into the Second World War. He lived in London throughout the War and chronicled the Blitz. He survived and was nominated by Clement Attlee to be the Dean of Westminster.