[1] The Britten-Pears Foundation described the book as having been "enthusiastically received as shedding new light on one of the most interesting aspects of Britten's life and career, in a study that is thoroughly researched, wonderfully readable and thought-provoking".

As a German national, Scherchen was interned during World War II, following which he served in the British army.

Thirteen-year-old Piers Dunkerley, whom Britten met aged 20 and described by Bridcut as "emphatically good-looking",[6] was another early favourite.

Humphrey himself told Bridcut: "I certainly don't think that he [Sir John Maud] was ever afraid that I might be the victim of my friendship with Britten.

David Spenser was thirteen years old when he had the role of Harry in Britten's opera Albert Herring.

[citation needed] Bridcut interviewed a number of Britten's children including the actor David Hemmings.

Both Roger and Humphrey Stone, another young friend, recall enjoying regular naked midnight swims with Britten.

Among his finest works are The Turn of the Screw, with the dark relationship between Quint and Miles, and Death in Venice, based on Thomas Mann's novella about the tragic love of a novelist for the beautiful boy Tadzio.

Jonathan Keates' review in The Daily Telegraph sums up the dilemma of writing about Britten's children: "Nowadays a known homosexual who sought out the company and affection of small boys would probably end up on a police register or behind bars.

In treating Britten's fondness for the young of his own sex as something more than lipsmacking paedophilia, this book does him a service both as a man and an artist.

"[16] In a similar vein, in a review in The Times, David Matthews wrote "Many paedophiles were abused as children, and their dangerous desires are motivated by hatred.

Britten's were motivated by love, which may have been to a large extent narcissistic and, as John Bridcut's book reveals, often ended with an abrupt withdrawal of attention when the boy grew up, but which was fundamentally benign.

He sought out Scherchen, then a 95-year-old man living in Australia, and obtained his consent to create a song cycle out of the story of the relationship.