One minute with: Charles Moore, biographer

Moore says of Sir Denis Thatcher: 'He was the 'conventional' man with the courage to back an unconventional woman.' (Rex Features)

Where are you now and what can you see?

In my house, an old rectory in East Sussex. I can see fallow deer across the stream and bluebells in the wood.

What are you currently reading?

'Hound Music', a novel by Rosalind Belben set in the early 20th century which really understands hunting.

Choose a favourite author and say why you admire her/him

Miklós Bánffy, the Hungarian politician and nobleman and author of the 'Transylvanian Trilogy'. The best fictional insight into the mind and life of pre-First World War middle Europe.

Describe the room where you usually write

My study in Sussex looks out on to our wood stack, so no view distracts me. It is north-facing and needs a coal fire till May.

Which fictional character most resembles you?

Hare, in Alison Uttley's "Little Grey Rabbit". He is boastful, and foolish in an active way.

Who is your hero/heroine from outside literature?

Sir Denis Thatcher. He was the "conventional" man with the courage to back an unconventional woman.

Charles Moore's biography, 'Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography (Volume 1: Not for Turning), is published by Allen Lane