Q&A with the authors of Londongrad

Today on Fifth Estate we feature a Q&A with Mark Hollingsworth and Stewart Lansley, authors of Londongrad, From Russia with Cash: The Inside Story of the Oligarchs. Mark Hollingsworth writes regularly for The Sunday Times, The Guardian and The Financial Times. Stewart Lansley is an award-winning television and radio producer and the author of eight other books. In Londongrad, for the first time ever, they tell the true story of how London became home to the Russian super-rich. Published by Fourth Estate, it is due out next week. 

Tell us a little bit about yourselves:

Mark Hollingsworth: Likes: Humour, politics, music, sports, eccentrics, movies, stories Dislikes: Being approached in the street by strangers, speaking in public, wasting time, racists, being interrupted, shopping.

Stewart Lansley: I’m an academic turned journalist, living in south London. Spend far too much time in front of the computer screen, but relax playing tennis, gardening, reading and walking. Love nothing more than exploring other parts of the world.

What books have had a lasting impact on you?

MH: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, 1984 by George Orwell

SL: Darkness at Noon by Arther Kostler, Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe, A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, The Mind of South Africa by Allister Sparks

As an author, what are you most proud of writing?

MH:The Ultimate Spin Doctor (a biography of Tim Bell) Saudi Babylon (about the Saudi Royal Family) Several articles in ‘ES’ magazine (London Evening Standard)

SL: Poor Britain, a book that has had enormous influence across the world in the way we perceive and measure poverty

Why do you write?

MH: Curiosity, fascination with language and I prefer to communicate through writing rather than talking. Besides, I cannot think of an alternative way of making a living!

SL:Good question. Mostly, it seems, for love.

What is your biggest failure?

MH: Being too slow and allowing myself to be distracted by other writing and journalistic projects while writing a book

SL: There are so many, it’s difficult to pinpoint one! 

When you were a kid, what did you think were you going to be when you grew up?

MH: Absolutely no idea

SL: A fireman.

If you could go anywhere in time for one day, where would you go and why?

MH: The civil rights march on Washington DC in 1963 to hear Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech, because of being present in a moment of history

SL: Yalta, February 1945 where Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt carved up the spoils of the impending defeat of Hitler — the key moment in 20th century history which defined the post-war world

Do you like reading e-books?

MH: Definitely not, but happy to sell them.

SL: ‘Fraid not 

Who are the five people, living or dead, you’d invite to a party?

MH: Peter Cook, Lenny Bruce, Michelle Obama, Princess Diana and Miles Davis

SL: Roman Abramovich, Boris Berezovsky, Alexander Litvinenko, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Vladimir Putin and keep the tape recorder on.

What are you working on at the moment?

MH: Profile of the Rothschild family

SL: The redistributional impact of the recession and a book on the post-war history of the rich.