Snakes and Ladders

First published in 1978, Snakes and Ladders is volume two of Dirk Bogarde's best-selling memoirs

Snakes and Ladders follows Bogarde from the challenges of his army training camp at Catterick, through the horrors of war, to his glittering – if often trying – film career. We see the thoughtful boy finding his way alongside his fellow recruits, to emerge from the war a thoughtful man, shaped in many ways by his harrowing experiences.

Somewhat falling into his career, Dirk struggled with the demands that such great success brings with it. With personal insight into his close friendship with Judy Garland, his working method with Visconti, and his many vital relationships with friends and family, Snakes and Ladders sheds an honest and not always flattering light on his life.

Sir Dirk Bogarde (1921–1999) was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as Death In Venice; between 1947 and 1991, Bogarde made more than sixty films.
In his writing career, as well as completing six novels, Bogarde wrote several volumes of autobiography. For over two decades he lived in Italy and France, which was where he began to write seriously. In 1985 he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of St Andrews and in 1990 was promoted to Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
Sir Dirk Bogarde has a legion of fans to this day – an extraordinary commitment to an extraordinary man.