S.J.Taylor brilliantly captures the full range of Duranty's astonishing life, from his participation in the Satanic orgies of Aleister (the beast)Crowley, to his dramatic front-line reporting during World War I, to his epic womanizing and heavy drug and alcohol abuse. It is the bitter, ironic story of a man who had the rare opportunity to bring to light the suffering of the millions of Stalin's victims, but remained a prisoner of vanity, self-indulgence, and success.