Gareth Jones was a remarkable man by anyone’s standards, highly talented, fearless and determined to uncover the truth whatever the risks. He was a campaigning journalist, one-time advisor to Lloyd George, an expert linguist, and travelled widely. He was a prolific, and much in demand writer, and knew many of the movers and shakers of his time. In particular he is remembered for his exposé of the Holodomor in Ukraine, an exposé that might have contributed to his murder, as not surprisingly it gained him many enemies in the Soviet Union. His untimely end came on the eve of his 30th birthday when he was captured and held to ransom by bandits in Inner Mongolia. His murder is still shrouded in mystery. Yet in spite of his many achievements he faded from public view. His niece Margaret Siriol Colley was determined to right this wrong and after her retirement compiled this compelling biography, based on letters, diaries and articles by Jones himself and those he met. This is a new and revised edition and makes for some absorbing reading. Not only is it a thorough and comprehensive biography, but also gives a fascinating insight into the world of international relations and the journalism of the era. Now rescued from obscurity, not least by the issue of the recent film Mr Jones, Gareth Jones lives again as he so much deserves to. Highly recommended.

More Than a Grain of Truth
The official true story behind the film 'Mr. Jones'
by Dr. Margaret Siriol Colley

Endeavour Media


Biographies & Memoirs , History

Pub Date 07 Feb 2020


I am reviewing a copy of More Than a Grain of Truth through Endeavour Media and Netgalley:


Garreth Jones was a young Welsh Journalist who was born in 1905 and died under mysterious circumstances on the eve of his thirtieth birthday in 1935. He had also been the foreign affairs to Lloyd Jones. He had been captured by bandits in Mongolia and held for ransom, but it is uncertain who murdered him.



In February of 1933 he flew Hitler in February of 1933 and a month later he became the first journalist to expose the famine that had been raging throughout the Soviet Union. Telling the truth at the time meant that instead of being feted by other Moscow Correspondents he was denigrated by Moscow Correspondence blackballed by the British Establishment and blackballed by the Soviet Secret Police.



Using her uncles, letters, diaries and articles, Margaret Siriol Colley creates a picture of a man who was not afraid to tell the truth, even at the cost of his own life.



I found More Than A Grain of Truth, five out of five stars.



Happy Reading!

Sometimes true stories read better than fiction and this is one of those times. The author brilliantly lays out the facts of the time period and the sacrifices her uncle made by telling the truth about what was going on in the Soviet Union after flying with Hitler. He was the first journalist to expose the truth about what was going on and he suffered for it and thanks to him the world was able to see the horrors that were occurring. This was an incredible man that literally gave his life to ensure that the truth got out to save those that had no way to save themselves.