Published diaries, letters and journals Books

Book SynopsisChiltern Publishing creates beautifully crafted editions of the World's finest literature. Their extraordinary and unique classic cover designs have evolved into exquisite, handcrafted writing journals of a high art form. Put simply: they are the finest writing journals on the market.

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Book Synopsis"Darling the hour has almost arrived. We leave tonight ... I am feeling it very much but I must not weaken. I must be brave. I think that will be the best attitude to take for us all" Harold Bishop is called up to the army in 1941, aged 39. He leaves behind his wife Joan, his children and his livelihood as butler of the grand Cardoness House. What follows is a tender and revealing collection of letters home. Despite the restrictions of the censors, Harold describes his time in a training barracks in Edinburgh, his health and clothes, and his eventual deployment to North Africa. His letters also reveal glimpses of Joan's experiences, making this a valuable social history and a record of a soldier's service. A tender and revealing collection that shares the life and cares of a soldier and his family during WWII

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Book Synopsis‘A third presence has arrived in my marriage. Ms Alzheimer’s – I think of her as a hideous, brain-eating monster – has come to live with us. Permanently.’ In April 2017, Susan’s husband Nicholas was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. This was followed by 28 months of relentless, rapid decline culminating in Nicholas’ death in August 2019. The Alzheimer’s Diaries (originally published as a blog) charts the progression of his illness, from diagnosis to the funeral. Susan dubbed the illness ‘Ms Alzheimer’s’ and describes the hateful impact on the man she loves. According to Alzheimer’s Research UK one person in 14 over the age of 65 has dementia, and in this thought-provoking account, Susan unflinchingly shares her story.

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Book SynopsisThe boundless and miraculous is what Vincent van Gogh believed we should all seek – and to be satisfied with nothing less. This is exactly what he achieved in his art, despite many profound difficulties which he recorded in his letters. These letters later became recognised for their literary virtues, such as simplicity, clarity, spontaneity and rich imagery. Such qualities are among those most prized in poetry. In The Boundless and Miraculous, extracts from Van Gogh’s letters are presented as ‘found poems’ – writing not originally intended to be a poem, reinterpreted as such – mainly in the form of sonnets. They record many of the pivotal moments in Van Gogh’s life and his struggles and emotional state at these times are evident in the content and tone of the writing. There are also his views on the work of other artists, both his contemporaries and those who went before him. In particular, the poems encapsulate much of the thinking behind the way van Gogh’s art developed, and notably the thought processes behind some of his most iconic paintings. With 87 colour plates, The Boundless and the Miraculous celebrates Van Gogh’s spectacular art as well as his wonderful writing in what could be considered a series of brief autobiographical sketches. A fabulous gift book aimed at all lovers of Van Gogh’s work, this volume will also make a major contribution to our understanding of his short and amazing life. To Theo You must understand how I regard art. One must work long and hard to arrive at the truthful. What I want is difficult, and yet I don’t believe I’m aiming too high. I would like to reach the point where people say of my work, that man feels deeply, feels subtly. What am I in the eyes of most people? A nonentity or an oddity. Very well – assuming that, I’d like to show what there is in the heart of such an oddity, such a nobody. This is my ambition, based less on resentment than on love. Even though I’m often in a mess, inside me there’s still a calm – pure harmony. The Hague c. 21 July 1882Trade Review"Stapleton’s accessible and illuminating collection of sonnets works well as a series of glimpses into the consciousness of a great artist; the diary of a soul. It captures the voice of a man whose life was a constant struggle but who maintained good grace to the end. The poems are accompanied by a wealth of images of van Gogh’s work that complement the subject matter." The Sunday Times (UK); "Finding poetry in the letters of Vincent van Gogh..." The Irish Times

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Book SynopsisThese early letters from John Cage to Merce Cunningham will be revelatory for many. While the two are widely known as a dynamic, collaborative duo, the story of how and when they came together has never been fully told. In the 39 letters of this collection, spanning 1942 46, Cage shows himself to be a man falling deeply in love. When they first met at the Cornish School in Seattle in the 1930s, Cage was 26 to Cunningham's 19, their relationship was purely that of teacher and student, and Cage was also very much married.It was in Chicago that their romantic relationship would begin. Cage was teaching at Moholy-Nagy's School of Design when Cunningham passed through town as a dancer with the Martha Graham Company on March 14, 1942. The letters begin in January, but a week after Cunningham's performance, the essential correspondence begins. Cage's letters to Cunningham are passionate, distraught, romantic and confused, occasionally containing snippets of poetry and song. They are also more than love letters, with intimations that resonate with our experience of the later John Cage.Love, Icebox takes its shape from these letters transcribed, chronologically ordered and in some instances reproduced in facsimile. Laura Kuhn, Cage's assistant from 1986 to 1992 and now longtime director of the John Cage Trust, adds an introduction, postscript and running commentary. Photographic illustrations of their final 18th St loft, as well as personal and household objects left behind, remind us of the substance and rituals of a long-shared life.Trade ReviewIlluminating; hopefully we can expect the John Cage Trust to produce more fresh books, each as surprising and valuable as this. -- Richard Kostelanetz * Rain Taxi Review of Books *Love, Icebox is extremely gratifying and nearly guiltily so. A book of letters dated between 1942 to 1946 from John Cage to Merce Cunningham, Love, Icebox illustrates at least one perspective on the beginning and formation of Cage and Cunningham’s relationship. -- Perwana Nazif * Los Angeles Review of Books *Love, Icebox: Letters from John Cage to Merce Cunningham lets us into one side of the storied 20th-century partnership between the composer and dancer/choreographer. As a collection of beautifully presented photographs and transcripts, the book expresses the foundation of the couple’s relationship, the development of Cage’s creative life, and the inevitable merging of the two. -- Blair Johnson * Full Stop *An intimate look inside the long-standing romantic and creative collaboration between two of the titans of the Modernist avant-garde: Merce, the fierce dancer, and John, the cerebral composer. -- Rumaan Alam * New Republic *Preserved by Cunningham and discovered after his death in 2009, [the letters] constitute the foundation stones of one of the great Modernist love affairs, one that began as a teacher-student crush (Cage was the teacher) and blossomed into an artistic collaboration and 50-year marriage. We only get Cage’s view of the affair in the letters, but the emotions expressed are intense enough to speak for two... -- Holland Cotter * New York Times *John Cage’s onetime assistant and now the director of the John Cage Trust — collects a series of 39 letters that the composer wrote to the dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham during the 1940s. What’s lovely about this slim volume is how it traces the full arc of a relationship. -- Henry Alford * New York Times: Book Review *To see how Cage's brilliant mind transposed disparate elements around him into an ongoing legacy inspires me to keep returning to his challenging, nonlinear work. -- Dave Wheeler * Shelf Awareness *

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Book SynopsisInge Bondi combines her recollections with Ernst Haas' letters, poems, photos, to narrate Haas's 40 year photography career. The book is in itself a letter from Bondi to Haas. "[S]heds new light on the life of renowned Magnum photographer, Ernst Haas, while at the same time showcasing his art... It also tells the story of one of photography's great innovators, who always trod his own path." - Black+White Photography Writer Inge Bondi sheds fresh light on the life of her close friend and colleague, the Austrian American photographer Ernst Haas (1921–86), whom she first met in New York’s Magnum offices in 1951. Bondi shares unique memories of this brilliant and very private man alongside reproductions of his letters, poems, photographs, and ephemera, revealing for the first time details of his harrowing war years and complex personal life. The book’s 13 chapters cover Haas’ Homecoming Prisoners of War (1947), which prompted Robert Capa to invite him to join Magnum Photos; pioneering color reportage for Life and Vogue, featuring his blurred portraits of bullfighting and saturated images of New York; and his work on film sets, including The Bible, which led to the publication of Haas’ groundbreaking and acclaimed 1971 photobook The Creation.

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Book SynopsisSoliloquy of a Small-town Uncivil Servant is an attempt at a memoir that begins with the realization that the narrator has forgotten much of his past. Hence, the acute need to retrieve it. What comes toight is an arduous journey into his pastthe circumstances of his birth, his growing up in a small cityike Gorakhpur and his rendezvous withife outside of that inhibited milieu as he joins the civil services and moves to other places. Fact and fantasy meld as he recreates his experiences with bureaucracy and bureaucratshis perception of them and theirs of him as an outsider''and recounts his many associations with men, women, his teachers and even strangers.

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Book SynopsisThe book features posthumous papers of English monk-scholar Nyanamoli, renowned for translating Pali Buddhist texts. It includes short notes and essays on deep subjects like ontology, metaphysics, and logic, with touches of humor, irony, and poetry. Notable essays include Pathways of Buddhist Thought.

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Book SynopsisHelen Maria Williams was a poet, novelist, and radical thinker deeply immersed in the political struggles of the 1790s. Her Letters Written in France is the first and most important of eight volumes chronicling the French Revolution to an England fearful of another civil war. Her twenty-six letters recounting old regime tyranny and revolutionary events provide both an apology for the Revolution and a representation of it as sublime spectacle.Trade Review“At last, a modern edition of Williams’s absorbing and familiar Letters Written in France. Fraistat and Lanser edit with tact and impeccable scholarship. Their introduction to the French Revolution is a gem in itself, an international ‘thriller’ well designed for today’s reader.” — Nanora Sweet, University of Missouri, St. Louis“Williams’s eloquent and dramatic eye-witness account of the French Revolution, Letters Written in France, is a work central to the study of Romanticism, history, and women’s literature. Expertly edited, this splendid edition contains a brilliant, informative introduction that situates Williams in the landscape of revolutionary, literary, and women’s history, offers very helpful scholarly annotations, and is packed with contextual materials. This is another Broadview gem.” — Harriet Kramer Linkin, New Mexico State University“Williams’s Letters Written in France offered readers in England a sympathetic view of the Revolution, which she hoped would hasten democratic reforms. This new edition will be particularly useful and accessible. Telling excerpts from Burke, Paine, and Wollstonecraft permit us to appreciate the fervor that surrounded political and social debates in the period and to assess the narrative power of Williams’s record of contemporary events. Feminists will especially appreciate the subtle analysis by Fraistat and Lanser of gender in Williams’s epistolary narrative and view of the Revolution, and cultural critics will relish the juxtaposition of reviews, letters, political polemic, and poems. This richly supplemented edition will be an invaluable resource.” — Margaret Higonnet, University of ConnecticutTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionHelen Maria Williams: A Brief ChronologyContemporary Historical EventsA Note on the TextLetters Written in France, in the Summer 1790Appendix A: Excerpts From Later Volumes of Williams’s Letters from France Letters from France: Containing Many New Anecdotes (1792) Letters from France: Containing … Interesting and OriginalInformation, vol. I (1793) Letters from France: Containing … Interesting and OriginalInformation, vol. II (1793) Letters Containing a Sketch of the Politics of France[May 1793-July 1794], vol. I (1795) Letters Containing a Sketch of the Politics of France[May 1793-July 1794], vol. II (1795) Letters Containing a Sketch of the Scenes … during theTyranny of Robespierre (1795) Letters Containing a Sketch of the Politics of France[July 1794-95] (1796) Appendix B: Selected Poetry by Williams “To Sensibility” A Poem on the Bill Lately Passed for Regulating the Slave Trade “The Bastille, A Vision” (from Julia, a Novel; Interspersed with Some Poetical Pieces) A Farewell, for Two Years, to England. A Poem Appendix C: Critical Reviews of Letters Written in France The Analytical Review The General Magazine The Monthly Review The Universal Magazine The Critical Review The Gentleman’s Magazine The English Review Appendix D: Other Contemporary Responses to Letters Written in France Edward Jerningham, “On Reading ‘Letters Written from France’” Hester Thrale Piozzi, from Thraliana Two Letters by Anna Seward Society of Friends of the Constitution at Rouen Laetitia Matilda Hawkins, from Letters on the Female Mind William Wordsworth, from The Prelude (1805), Book IX Appendix E: Contemporary Responses to Williams William Wordsworth James Boswell The Anti-Jacobin Review Mary Pilkington Henry Crabb Robinson Williams’s Obituary in the Gentleman’s Magazine Appendix F: The French Revolution: Selected Primary Documents Declaration of The Rights of Man and Citizen Olympe de Gouges, “Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Female Citizen” From Address to the National Assembly Supporting Abolition of the Slave Trade The Fete de la Federation as described by the London Times Beneficial Effects of the French Revolution Appendix G: The French Revolution: Selected Early British Responses Richard Price, from A Discourse on the Love of Our Country Edmund Burke, from Reflections on the Revolution in France Mary Wbllstonecraft, from A Vindication of the Rights of Men Thomas Paine, from The Rights of Man Hannah More, from Village Politics Anna Barbauld, “To a Great Nation” Mary Alcock,“Instructions … for the Mob in England” Selected Bibliography

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Book SynopsisA complete new edition of Beethoven's conversation books, now translated into English in their entirety for the first time. Covering a period associated with the revolutionary style of what we call "late Beethoven", these often lively and compelling conversations are now finally accessible in English for the scholar and Beethoven-lover. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) is recognized the world over as a composer of musical masterpieces exhibiting heroic strength, particularly in the face of his increasing deafness from ca. 1798. By 1818, the Viennese composer hadbegun carrying blank booklets with him, for his acquaintances to jot their sides of conversations, while he answered aloud. Often, he himself used the pocket-sized booklets to make shopping lists and other reminders, including occasional early sketches for his compositions. Today, 139 of these booklets survive, covering the years 1818 up to the composer's death in 1827 and including such topics as music, history, politics, art, literature, theatre, religion, and education as perceived on a day-to-day basis in post-Napoleonic Europe. An East German edition, begun in the 1960s and essentially complete by 2001, represents a diplomatic transcription of these documents. It is a masterpiece of pure scholarship but is difficult to use for anyone who is not a specialist. Moreover, Beethoven scholarship has moved on significantly since the long-ranging genesis of the German edition. These important booklets arehere translated into English in their entirety for the first time. The volumes in this series include an updated editorial apparatus, with revised and expanded notes and many new footnotes exclusive to this edition, and brand newintroductions, which together place many of the quickly changing conversational topics into context. Due to the editor's many years of research in Vienna, his acquaintance with its history and topography, as well as his familiarity with obscure documentary resources, this edition represents an entirely new venture in source studies - vitally informative for scholars not only in music but also in a wide variety of disciplines. At the same time, these oftenlively and compelling conversations are now finally accessible for the English-speaking music lover or history buff who might want to dip into them and hear what Beethoven and his friends were discussing at the next table. THEODORE ALBRECHT is Professor of Musicology at Kent State University, Ohio.Trade Review[T]hese volumes are welcome additions to the literature. They contain much of value for those interested in the last decade of Beethoven's life, particularly concerning his social circle, his daily routine, and his ideas and beliefs. One can only hope that the remaining ten volumes are published soon. -- Marten Noorduin * NOTES, THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE MUSIC LIBRARY ASSOCIATION *Featured in the10 must-read books for Beethoven 250, * BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE *[A] monumental endeavor. . . . Thanks to Albrecht's Herculean task, the interdisciplinary work of scholars in German studies, linguists, historians, musicologists, anthropologists, and other Beethoven-investigating scholars should and can begin their share of work in trying to make sense of these un-premeditated fragments of premodern life in Metternich-period Vienna. -- Peter Höyng * JOURNAL OF AUSTRIAN STUDIES *A very professional translation...conversations about wine, travel arrangements, the value of bank shares, the best stationery shop for quills, pretty waitresses, a malfunctioning stove, how Karl's Greek examination went...this helps the process of de-mythologizing Beethoven the man - but not devaluing Beethoven the composer. * BRIO *Important and fascinating...the books give a remarkable record of Beethoven's activities during the period, revealing a great deal not only about matters that preoccupied him...but also his daily routine, movements and eating habits. * THE CONSORT *These remarkable documents provide a fascinating glimpse into Beethoven's daily life, activities, interests, concerns, and opinions during his last decade. . . . Theodore Albrecht undertook the formidable task of not only translating all 139 books (Hefte) and presenting them in 'modern conversational American English' but also of providing copious footnotes that clarify identities of writers and details of chronology and context. * THE BEETHOVEN JOURNAL *An extraordinary in-depth portrait of the composer's last years...state-of-the-art scholarship in an enjoyably accessible manner. Five Stars, Michael Church, * BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE *[A] noble effort which for almost 200 years many people have thought important enough to compile. The fact the hefts [books] still exist after two 20th Century wars is amazing. * AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE *A brilliantly accessible piece of scholarship. . . . As they flash from scene to scene, with a huge cast of characters taking turns in the spotlight, these extraordinary little books read like a film script, with a laconic but massive presence at its heart. It's a goldmine for music historians, and a riveting saga for the rest of us. -- Michael Church * BBC Music Magazine *Table of ContentsGeneral Introduction to the English Edition Heft 1 (ca. February 26, 1818 - after March 2, 1818) Heft 2 (March 17, 1819 - after May 15/16, 1819) Heft 3 (November 20, 1819 - ca. December 6, 1819) Heft 4 (December 7, 1819 - December 12, 1819) Heft 5 (December 13, 1819 - December 30, 1819) Heft 6 (ca. January 7, 1820 - January 26, 1820) Heft 7 (ca. January 27, 1820 - February 22, 1820) Heft 8 (ca. February 22, 1820 - ca. March 11, 1820) Appendix A: Descriptions of the Conversation Books in Volume 1 Bibliography

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Book SynopsisKeep track of your sleepThis tracker is a handy tool to help you record your sleep over time. Whether you want to understand the patterns and quality of your sleep, or identify what's keeping you up at night, this book is the ideal place to start.Including a monthly sleep tracker, daily logs, calming activities and more, this journal not only helps you to understand your sleeping habits, but also guides you to improve them.

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Book SynopsisErnst Jünger, one of twentieth-century Germany’s most important and controversial writers, faithfully kept a journal during the Second World War in occupied Paris, on the eastern front, and in Germany until its defeat—writings that are of major historical and literary significance. These wartime journals appear here in English for the first time.Trade ReviewErnst Jünger’s record of German-occupied Paris and the battlefields of the Caucasus is a treasure trove for readers interested in the history of the Second World War. Even more, though, it is a literary accomplishment of the first order, a document of European modernism, in which this master stylist leaves traces of the violence of the age between the lines of his crystalline prose. -- Russell A. Berman, Walter A. Haas Professor in the Humanities, Stanford University, and senior fellow, Hoover InstitutionThese diaries are not only a remarkable document of the time, but bring us close to a strange but highly original person, always capable of a fresh response to the natural world, the atmosphere of Paris, and the hideous events that force themselves on his knowledge. Many of Jünger’s texts have an inhuman chill; these diaries reveal his humanity. -- Ritchie Robertson * Times Literary Supplement *For English-speaking readers who do not know his work, A German Officer in Occupied Paris shows the many sides of this complex, elusive writer. -- Edmund Fawcett * Financial Times *Through these journals, we see Jünger consorting with resistors and collaborators, intellectuals and artists, drinking champagne, dining in sumptuous restaurants, and accompanying other officers to nightclubs, where naked women perform. Wandering around the city, he combs through antiquarian bookshops, stops in at galleries, discusses literature with friends, and acutely observes plants and flowers change with the seasons. He recounts in detail his dreams, nightmares, and musings on war. . . . A unique historical testimony. * Kirkus Reviews *Once read, these [journals] are never forgotten. They are surely the strangest literary production to come out of the Second World War, stranger by far than anything by Céline or Malaparte. Jünger reduces his war to a sequence of hallucinatory prose poems in which things appear to breathe and people perform like automata or, at best, like insects. -- Bruce Chatwin, New York Review of Books (review of French edition)Politically ambiguous and polymathic, Jünger led a remarkable and long life (he died at the age of 102 in 1998) as a soldier, writer and philosopher. "I suffer from a hyperacute sense of observation," he said, not as a boast, but by way of admitting to a weakness. The foibles of the Nazis, the deathwatch beetles he collected, the facial tics of liars, the flick of a Parisian woman's hair as she bought a hat, the physical contortions of an executed deserter: all these came under the magnifying glass in his war journals, kept from 1941-45. Their publication in English, fluently translated, is a remarkable moment, presenting a model of how to navigate an age of extremism. -- Roger Boyes * The Times of London *Expertly translated into English by Thomas and Abby Hansen . . . with an excellent biographical-critical foreword by Elliot Y. Neaman. -- Michael Dirda * The Washington Post *[Jünger's] writings and insights have long earned him sage status in Germany. This, the first publication in English of his diaries from 1941–45, heightens his complexity but also makes him a more rounded figure. -- Alex Colville * The Spectator *A German Officer in Occupied Paris is a remarkable slice of World War II, and makes for fascinating reading. -- M.A. Orthofer * The Complete Review *Jünger is an eloquent and informative witness to artistic life in occupied France, deportations, the burgeoning French Resistance and the conspirators against Hitler as well as the utter chaos after Stalingrad. This edition also includes extensive notes and a full glossary of all the people mentioned in the text. * Times Higher Education *Jünger’s war diaries, translated here with damning clarity by Thomas and Abby Hansen, are a fascinating, refined and disturbing record of the moral disasters of Nazism and collaboration. -- Dominic Green * Wall Street Journal *With the publication of these extraordinary, sometimes hallucinatory diaries. English speakers have the chance to read one of the great witnesses to 20th-century Europe’s catastrophe. -- Paul Lay * New Statesman *A highly decorated German veteran of the First World War, Jünger (1895-1998) spent much of the Second as an officer stationed in Paris, where his journal is an almost daily record of the views and impressions of a well-read literary figure, entomologist, and cultural critic, now available for the first time in English. . . . Elliot Neaman is to be thanked for a comprehensive Foreword, as are Thomas Hansen and Abby Hansen for their translation of a most enigmatic set of Journals, and Columbia University Press for publishing them. They have made accessible the work of a cultured and literary person in service to a brutal regime. -- Bertram M. Gordon * H-Diplo *In Paris, Jünger tried to confront absolute horror with his chevalieresque idea of style, and the experiment is absorbing to observe, in its short-circuits and moments of illumination and ultimate burnout. -- Adam Thirlwell * New York Review of Books *Named a 2019 book of the year. -- Lucy Beckett * Times Literary Supplement *However uneven or bizarre some of the entries, the overall structure of the journals — free-flowing, chaotic, and kaleidoscopic — works. Together they act as a mirror reflecting a world where the center had not held. * The New Criterion *Table of ContentsForeword, by Eliot NeamanTranslator’s Preface1. First Paris Journal2. Notes from the Caucasus3. Second Paris Journal4. Kirchhorst DiariesNotesGlossary of Personal NamesIndex

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Book SynopsisThis modern, beautifully designed guided journal based on Louise Hay''s inspiring teachings will take you through the powerful exercises and uplifting affirmations you need to feel more empowered in all areas of your life.We have the power of our thoughts and words. As we change our thinking and our words, our experiences also change. No matter where we came from, no matter how difficult our childhood was, we can make positive changes today. Louise HayLouise Hay firmly believed that our thoughts create our life. She knew that each of us has the ability to improve our circumstances, but it can be a challenge to know where or how to begin. That's where this beautifully designed guided journal comes in! Through the transformative exercises and affirmations contained within, you will learn how to tap into the power within you that already knows how to make the rest of your life the best of your life.Louise's timeless wisdom is on every page, as she shows y

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Book SynopsisIn their celebration of ‘little matters’ – the regular round of visiting, dining out, drinking tea, of reading and walking to the shops and sending to the post – Jane Austen’s letters and novels have many similarities. The thirteen letters collected by Jane Austen’s House Museum, in Chawton, Hampshire and reproduced in this book give us intimate glimpses into her life in Bath and Chawton and on visits to London, many of their details finding echoes in her fiction. 'Jane Austen: The Chawton Letters' traces a lively story beginning in 1801, when, aged twenty-five, Jane Austen left Steventon in Hampshire to move to Bath. Later letters relish the shops, theatres and sights of London, but are interspersed from 1809 with the quieter routines of village life in Chawton, Hampshire, which was to be her home for the remainder of her short life. We learn here of her anxieties for the reception of Pride and Prejudice, her care in planning Mansfield Park and the hilarious negotiations over the publication of Emma. These letters, each accompanied by reproductions from the original manuscripts in Jane Austen’s hand, testify to Jane’s deep emotional bond with her sister: the most moving letter of all is that written by Cassandra only days after Jane’s death in Winchester in July 1817. Brought together in this little book, these artefacts make a delightful modern-day keepsake of correspondence from one of the world’s best-loved writers.Trade Review'Exquisitely bound and printed, with an excellent introduction by Kathryn Sutherland, this is a book that will delight any Austen reader … a real treasure that will find its way on to many a fan's bookshelf.' * Jane Austen's Regency World *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Chronology Introduction Letters Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisLetters from the Trenches provides an accessible, unique perspective on the experiences of soldiers and their families for the First World War centenary.

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Book Synopsis ‘One of the greatest writers of our time.’ Toni Morrison ‘You Don’t Know Us Negroes adds immeasurably to our understanding of Hurston … her words make it impossible for readers to consider her anything but one of the intellectual giants of the 20th century.’ The New York Times Book ReviewTrade Review‘Reading Hurston, you always wonder what shape her dignity will take next. Her style and spark were her own.’ The New York Times ‘Fierce, insightful and often devilishly funny, her satirical writing is particularly biting.’ The Observer ‘In these essays, which cover themes of race, gender and politics, her writing is characterised by an impish relish that remains both shocking and invigorating today.’ Financial Times Online ‘You Don’t Know Us Negroes adds immeasurably to our understanding of Hurston, who was a tireless crusader in all her writing, and ahead of her time. Though she was often misunderstood, sometimes maligned and occasionally dismissed, her words make it impossible for readers to consider her anything but one of the intellectual giants of the 20th century. Despite facing sexism, racism and general ignorance, Hurston managed to produce a written legacy that, thanks to enduring collections like this one, will engage readers for generations to come.’ The New York Times Book Review ‘This collection recognises one of the finest writers of the 20th century.’ The Sunday Express

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Book Synopsis SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND POLITICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR''The wickedest political diaries since Alan Clark''s'' Daily Mail''Riotously candid'' Decca Aitkenhead, Sunday Times''An acute political intelligence at work'' Guardian''Glorious, compelling, jaw-dropping'' Evening StandardWhat is it like to be a wife of a politician in modern-day Britain? Sasha Swire finally lifts the lid. For more than twenty years she has kept a secret diary detailing the trials and tribulations of being a political plus-one, and gives us a ringside seat at the seismic political events of the last decade. A professional partner and loyal spouse, Swire has strong political opinions herself - sometimes more ''No, Minister'' than ''Yes''. She detonates the stereotype of the dutiful wife. From shenanigans in Budleigh Salterton to state banquets at Buckingham Palace, gun-toting terTrade ReviewGloriously indiscreet * Daily Mail *A gossipy, amusing, opinionated account of what it's like to be married to an MP... Good fun and eye-opening * The Times *Riotously candid -- Decca Aitkenhead * Sunday Times *A glorious, compelling, jaw-dropping read * Evening Standard *They're the wickedest political diaries since Alan Clark's * Daily Mail *This gossipy, opinionated and frequently hilarious book could be the most entertaining political diary since Alan Clark's -- Charlotte Heathcote * Sunday Express *Ten years ago, reviewing Alastair Campbell's diaries for the Spectator, I concluded as follows: "Who will be the chroniclers of the Cameron government? Somewhere, unknown to his or her colleagues, a secret scribbler will already be at work, documenting the rise and, in due course, no doubt, the fall of this administration" Well, here it is. The diary covers not only the rise and fall of the Cameroons, but also the shenanigans surrounding Brexit and the inexorable rise of Boris, concluding at the end of last year when Sir Hugo (as he was by then) left parliament. No holds are barred. Sasha is candid, irreverent, occasionally outrageous and sometimes hilarious -- Chris Mullin * Spectator *A funny, indiscreet and dangerously honest account of the Cameron-May years * The Times *Imagine the Alan Clark diaries, but written by his wife Jane instead: all the high-octane political gossip, set against a backdrop of country house shooting weekends and boozy dinners at Chequers, but seen through the sceptical eyes of a woman one step removed from all the head-butting stags. But there's far more to this book than reheated pillow talk. There is an acute political intelligence at work, of the sort that makes one wonder what might have been had Swire not settled for experiencing politics vicariously through her husband -- Gaby Hinsliff * Guardian *Westminster diaries are judged on three levels: the details they leak, the political era they re-create and the central character of the author. Swire scores highly on all three. She is funnier and ballsier than Chris Mullin and if she falls short of Alan Clark it is only because he was so devilish -- Quentin Letts * The Times *Diary of an MP's Wife is an irresistible, informal history and a rare tell-all about what it's really like to live behind the headlines of British political life. No one sees more than an observant wife and Sasha Swire's beady eye makes her a natural reporter! Her sharp vignettes and tart sense of humor make for compulsive reading. I do hope she keeps going! -- Tina BrownShe is not a high-society bird-brain but an acute and intelligent observer - and very funny. An invaluable source for future historians of Britain -- Margaret MacMillan * New Statesman *Swire has literary ability, a quality that manifests itself in the colour with which she describes the show and the freaks within it... there have been no political diaries to match the insightfulness and style of these since Alan Clark's and, like his, they will become an essential point of reference for those who wish to understand the politics of the age they describe -- Simon Heffer * Telegraph *Swire's uncharitable musings have demonstrated that the disloyalist's diary still has the power to inflict acute embarrassment, long after the events -- Ben MacIntyre * The Times *As tell-all diaries go, they don't get more riveting than Lady Swire's juicy tales -- Alice Fuller * Sun *Diary of an MP's Wife [is] both compelling and shrewd. The pesky MP's wife may have a better sense of public taste than all the players strutting on the political stage. I can't wait for the next swathe of Swire diaries and the film rights for these ones -- Sarah Sands * Oldie *Smirking at the juiciest revelations in the publishing sensation of the year. Relish these stories for they may be the last laughs we get in a while * Scotsman *Lady Swire has a keen eye for detail and a waspish turn of phrase, which makes this a real page-turner. Lady Swire deservedly takes her place alongside Alan Clark, Chips Channon and Julian Critchley -- Lord Vaizey of DidcotRight now, I'm reading a gossipy book; it's a diary of a British MP's wife, Sasha Swire. Normally when I'm buying a book like that I buy it on Kindle because then nobody can see what I'm reading! But it wasn't available, so I actually ordered it by mail and I'm happy I did that -- Kim Campbell, Prime Minister of CanadaThe most gossipy and mischievous diarist since Alan Clark begins her account in 2010 when her husband, Hugo, is appointed minister of state in the Northern Ireland office, and is so excited that he insists on being called "minister" at home * Sunday Times *The small clique of people at the top are also exposed with waspish irreverence by Sasha Swire in Diary of an MP's Wife. Lady Swire may be a social pariah in Notting Hill and Chipping Norton right now but will, I suspect, like Alan Clark before her, be remembered for her indiscretions long after most of the current cabinet * Telegraph *The wildly indiscreet tale of life inside David Cameron's inner circle... as much fun to pick through as a box of Quality Street, and beneath the gossipy surface lies a razor-sharp analysis of the Cameroons' descent from their gilded heyday to being eaten alive by Brexit * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisIn June 1862, Dostoevsky left Petersburg on his first excursion to Western Europe. Ostensibly making the trip to consult Western specialists about his epilepsy, he also wished to see firsthand the source of the Western ideas he believed were corrupting Russia. Over the course of his journey he visited a number of major cities, including Berlin, Paris, London, Florence, Milan, and Vienna. His impressions on what he saw, "Winter Notes on Summer Impressions", were first published in the February 1863 issue of Vremya (Time), the periodical he edited.Trade ReviewImportant as an early statement of some of Dostoevsky's favourite concepts, and interesting as an example of his acid journalistic style. * The New York Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times Gardening Book of the Year 2019 In Scent Magic, a book which is at once romantic and extremely practical, plantswoman, designer and garden-maker extraordinaire Isabel Bannerman immerses the reader in the luscious smells of the fragrant garden through a warmly written account of her year’s gardening; and combines this with an encyclopaedic reference work of the best aromatic plants to grow throughout the seasons. Whether evoking the freshly baked sponge smell emanating from wisteria, describing ‘Stanwell Perpetual’ as "the kind of rose that would taste of apricot and raspberries swirled together", or championing the magic of the Himalayan cowslip, "scented profoundly and deliciously like the dark vault of a Damascus spice merchant’" the glorious poetry of her descriptions is here joined with personal memories and a lifetime’s experience of gardening and plant cultivation.Trade Review"Essentially Scent Magic is a series of musings: lyrical, intimate, unique, often random, always interesting...part private reflection, part plant history. In her preface Bannerman warns: 'information is everywhere, information is cheap, so this book is not really about information...the intention is simply to encourage curiosity.' In that she succeeds brilliantly." -- Katie Campbell * Hortus *"A gloriously sensual diary of her garden’s smells, magically charting the turning of a growing year from the intense frankincense-like perfume of the winter-flowering witchhazel, Hamamelis ‘Advent’, to the sweet summer fruitiness of honeysuckle. A book to treasure." * Irish Times Gardening Books of the Year *"There's a runaway winner among the gardening books this year: Scent Magic: Notes from a Gardener. It's intoxicating; there's never been a book quite like it...Any gardener will come away from this book full of excited plans for planting but it is no less enthralling for those who merely enjoy gardens, those who have sensuality in life, which is to say, this book would make a genuinely life-enhancing present for almost anybody." -- David Sexton * Evening Standard Best Gardening Books for 2019 *"Highly poetic...Isabel Bannerman has written a book that almost incidentally describes plants' perfumes while giving a massively informative tour of her garden and of garden plants in general. She is the perfect hostess - intelligent, travelled, well-connected, charming, intimate, wry, a hard-drinking and altogether delightful character." * The Times *"In this lyrical book, [Bannerman] leads us by the nose...writing the way she plants, to lush effect. The photographs...and plant portraits are wondrous." * Saga magazine *"The author explores the smells of the plant kingdom in her own inimitable style, combining poetic descriptions with hands-on, practical knowledge." * Irish News Best Gardening Books of the Year *"Sumptuous." * The Herald (Scotland) *"I was thoroughly transported...it’s as much a memoir through a lifetime of appreciating the fragrance of the seasons as it is a plant guide. This is a beautiful and moving book, something to linger over, to cherish — and to remind us, as Bannerman writes, 'this is a great day to inhale'." * The New York Times Book Review *"Part diary and part practical guide to perfumed plants, illustrated with [the author's] own photographs, it is a dream of a book, wandering off down scented pathways of memories, moods and moments past." * Sunday Times - Gardening Book of the Year *"Follows its nose to some intriguing places." * Evening Standard *"Evocative descriptions of favourite scented plants are interspersed through the diary-like text, with the author's own photographs lighting up the pages. A book to lose yourself in." * House & Garden *"There hasn't been a decent book on the notoriously elusive and subjective topic of garden scents for more than 20 years, so it is pleasant to be able wholeheartedly to recommend Scent Magic...a stylish, highly personal, scientifically illuminating account - part diary, part plant description - of her encounters with scented plants, both actual and in memory, through the course of one year." -- Ursula Buchan * Spectator *"Part-practical handbook, part-autobiography, part-philosophical reflection on art and Nature...this book is an absolute feast, not only for gardeners, but for anyone interested in art and Nature and in living well." -- John Hoyland * Country Life *"A collection of notes, memories and beautifully detailed observations of fragrance throughout the year....This has to be one of the most beautifully written pieces I have read in a long time...it brings to mind the writing of Vita Sackville West. The book is illustrated with gorgeous garden photography by the author and many of Isabel's striking botanical portraits. Scent Magic is a wonderfully romantic book and should sit on the book shelf of anyone who likes to sit and bask in the seasons as they pass. It is a love letter to the easily missed details in the gardening year and shows how plants can seep into every corner of life." * Gardens Illustrated *

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Book SynopsisDon''t You Have Time to Think? collects the witty, eccentric and moving letters letters of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman. Richard Feynman was no ordinary genius. Brilliant, free-spirited and irreverent, he upset those in authority, gave captivating lectures, wrote equations on napkins in strip joints and touched countless lives everywhere. He also wrote hundreds of letters to friends, family, critics, colleagues and devoted fans around the world. Now these letters have been brought together for the first time. From down-to-earth advice to eager students to discussions of time travel and the atom bomb, and from blunt rebuttals to journalists to poignant exchanges with his first wife as she lay dying, they will introduce you to a unique person whose wisdom and lust for life inspired all those who came into his orbit. ''Nobel-winning physicist, expert bongo-player, safe-cracker and all-round genius, Feynman was, as thi

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Book SynopsisAn extraordinary selection of revealing letters to and from one of the titans of 20th-century musicTrade Review“With their intellectual brilliance, humour and wonderful eye for detail, Leonard Bernstein’s letters blow all biographies out of the water. His galaxy of correspondents includes Stephen Sondheim, Boris Pasternak and Jacqueline Kennedy. Full of fresh information and the authentic voice of a constant seeker.”—The Economist (named a 2013 Book of the Year)“His collaborator Betty Comden once noted, in a letter to Bernstein, that he saved ‘every scrap of correspondence.’ You will be grateful . . . a rich collection of letters to and from Bernstein, filled with revelations about his musical and personal lives.”—James R. Oestreich, New York Times“Bernstein’s versatility and ambition were such that he spent a lot of time trying to figure out who he was—which also meant searching for American music and for the future of music generally. This book doesn’t resolve Bernstein’s quest. But it’s an invaluable resource, and the quest itself continues to fascinate and to matter.”—Joseph Horowitz, Wall Street Journal“A rich selection of letters to and from Bernstein, meticulously edited by Nigel Simeone. . . . Alive with spontaneous intelligence, Leonard Bernstein’s letters display exactly this unforced intimacy, though there were moments when he no doubt knew that posterity was listening in.”—Morris Dickstein, Times Literary Supplement“His letters have a tremendous zest, and a good journalistic eye, too, and since he was often at the right place at the right time, at some of the key moments in his 20th-century history, this gives them a wider interest.”—Christopher Hart, Sunday Times“The correspondence from and to the remarkable conductor is full of pleasure and insights.”—New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)“This volume has been handsomely edited, and the decision to include letters from Bernstein’s correspondents results in a rich portrayal of a particular age of privilege.”—Philip Hensher, The Guardian“Like Britten, Bernstein was an assiduous correspondent, and The Leonard Bernstein Letters is a vast, absorbing canvas of a life lived at full speed, with a cast list that reads like a who’s who of American cultural life in the 20th century.”—Adam Lively, Sunday Times“Simeone’s choice of letters [are] superbly amplified by his exhaustively researched footnotes, which manage to identify and flesh out even the most obscure of his subject’s multifarious correspondents.”—Stephen Walsh, The Spectator“For . . . eloquent and moving testimony read the entry for 25 November 1963 in The Leonard Bernstein Letters edited by Nigel Simeone, the contents of which give an . . . overview of a liberal American century.”—Chris Ford, The Guardian“[A] fascinating selection of correspondence edited by Nigel Simeone. . . . The Leonard Bernstein Letters is indeed a written reflection of the man himself—fascinating, discursive, frequently brilliant.”—Ken Smith, Fontes Artis Musicae“A marvelously entertaining new book. . . . The Leonard Bernstein Letters makes it possible to take stock of Bernstein’s weaknesses—his enthusiasm could lead to sentimentality, and clearly his fame became a kind of bubble. But these pale in comparison with his energy, joy, and absolute dedication to music. It’s sad to think that our culture will probably never produce someone like him again.”—Adam Kirsch, Tablet magazine“It is a major, highly accomplished piece of work in its own right.”—Illtyd Harrington, Camden New Journal“The Leonard Bernstein Letters . . . contains so much that is startling and unknown that all past books, including his own, become instantly inadequate. Don’t take my word for it. On the jacket, Bernstein’s official biographer, Humphrey Burton, declares that, with this book in hand, ‘I want to start all over again.’”—Norman Lebrecht, Standpoint Magazine“In Nigel Simeone’s editorial labour of love The Leonard Bernstein Letters some of the most entertaining letters come from Bernstein’s correspondents.”—Sameer Rahim, Sunday Telegraph“Opinions [are] expressed with force and often with elegance in his correspondence with performers, composers, publishers, promoters and many other else, as revealed in The Leonard Bernstein Letters, edited by the eminent Bernstein scholar Nigel Simeone.”—Christopher Morley, Birmingham Post“The Leonard Bernstein Letters will be pounced upon by aficionados. . . . Christmas reading doesn’t come any better.”—International Record Review“[The] extraordinary archive, The Leonard Bernstein Letters, [is] edited meticulously by Nigel Simeone.”—Jenni Frazer, Jewish Chronicle“[H]ats off to Nigel Simeone for his painstaking research into the myriad references in Bernstein’s correspondence. Concerts, recordings, broadcasts, travel dates, parties, you name it, they are all meticulously recorded in the brilliant footnotes to this large collection of letters. . . . A magisterial survey.”—Fiona Clampin, Classical Music“Top of my list for music books this Christmas has to be the new compendium of Leonard Bernstein’s collected letters which are brilliantly written, seriously engaging, and strangely contradictory, in the way that Bernstein was himself a mass of fascinating contradictions—egocentric/loving, boastful/blisteringly honest, gay/straight; with a curious ambivalence, for a Jew, towards the remnants of the Third Reich.”—Ham & High“[W]hat emerges is an absorbing and highly readable portrait of a complex, larger-than-life character nicely described by a fellow-composer as ‘one of the blessed ones who make everything they encounter come alive.’”—Anthony Burton, BBC Music Magazine“The . . . mainly unpublished correspondence both from and to Bernstein, between 1932 and 1990, shines a light on this unique figure’s thoughts, work and passions, his voice ringing clear with warmth and candour. . . . He was a remarkable artist and human being—elusive in his complexity, yet evoked, through these letters, with undeniable presence.”—Teresa Levonian Cole, Country Life“Offering 650 letters, this book is a major event in the documentation of the life and work of one of the greatest American musicians, who still exercises an enormous influence through his revelatory records.”—Peter Dickinson, Gramophone Magazine“What terrifying letters you write: fit for the flames is what they are. Just imagine how much you would have to pay to retrieve such a letter forty years from now when you are conductor of the Philharmonic.”—Aaron Copland to Leonard Bernstein in 1940“This incredible collection of letters gives us a glimpse into the depth and breadth of Bernstein’s world. The sheer volume of correspondence, all beautifully presented and annotated by Nigel Simeone, shows us that Bernstein loved the written word as much as the musical word!”—Marin Alsop, musical director, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra“With their intellectual brilliance, humour and wonderful eye for detail, Leonard Bernstein’s letters blow all biographies out of the water. His galaxy of correspondents includes Stephen Sondheim, Boris Pasternak and Jacqueline Kennedy. Full of fresh information and the authentic voice of a constant seeker.”—The Economist (named a 2013 Book of the Year) * The Economist *“His collaborator Betty Comden once noted, in a letter to Bernstein, that he saved ‘every scrap of correspondence.’ You will be grateful . . . a rich collection of letters to and from Bernstein, filled with revelations about his musical and personal lives.”—James R. Oestreich, New York Times -- James R. Oestreich * New York Times *“Bernstein’s versatility and ambition were such that he spent a lot of time trying to figure out who he was—which also meant searching for American music and for the future of music generally. This book doesn’t resolve Bernstein’s quest. But it’s an invaluable resource, and the quest itself continues to fascinate and to matter.”—Joseph Horowitz, Wall Street Journal -- Joseph Horowitz * The Wall Street Journal *“A rich selection of letters to and from Bernstein, meticulously edited by Nigel Simeone. . . . Alive with spontaneous intelligence, Leonard Bernstein’s letters display exactly this unforced intimacy, though there were moments when he no doubt knew that posterity was listening in.”—Morris Dickstein, Times Literary Supplement -- Morris Dickstein * TLS *“His letters have a tremendous zest, and a good journalistic eye, too, and since he was often at the right place at the right time, at some of the key moments in his 20th-century history, this gives them a wider interest.”—Christopher Hart, Sunday Times -- Christopher Hart * The Sunday Times *“The correspondence from and to the remarkable conductor is full of pleasure and insights.”—New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice) * New York Times Book Review *“This volume has been handsomely edited, and the decision to include letters from Bernstein’s correspondents results in a rich portrayal of a particular age of privilege.”—Philip Hensher, The Guardian -- Philip Hensher * The Guardian *“Like Britten, Bernstein was an assiduous correspondent, and The Leonard Bernstein Letters is a vast, absorbing canvas of a life lived at full speed, with a cast list that reads like a who’s who of American cultural life in the 20th century.”—Adam Lively, Sunday Times -- Adam Lively * The Sunday Times *“Simeone’s choice of letters [are] superbly amplified by his exhaustively researched footnotes, which manage to identify and flesh out even the most obscure of his subject’s multifarious correspondents.”—Stephen Walsh, The Spectator -- Stephen Walsh * The Spectator *“For . . . eloquent and moving testimony read the entry for 25 November 1963 in The Leonard Bernstein Letters edited by Nigel Simeone, the contents of which give an . . . overview of a liberal American century.”—Chris Ford, The Guardian -- Chris Ford * The Guardian *“Exhaustive, thrilling [and] indispensable.”—Elysa Gardner, USA Today, starred review -- Elysa Gardner * USA Today *“Energetic, intimate . . . an eye-opening volume: a glimpse into the personal life of a legend.”—Jeff Lunden, NPR “Weekend Edition Sunday” -- Jeff Lunden * NPR "Weekend Edition Sunday" *“Bernstein emerges as highly literate, compassionate, astonishingly busy and gifted almost beyond measure.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) * Kirkus Reviews *“A hugely entertaining chronicle of a enviable life, and a trove of musical and show-business gossip.”—Adam Kirsch, New Republic -- Adam Kirsch * The New Republic *“[It’s] full of both serious and gossipy correspondence between the musical genius and such friends as Stephen Sondheim, Betty Comden and Aaron Copland.”—Joe Meyers, CTNews.com -- Joe Meyers * CTNews.com *“A document of a golden age.”—Jimmy So, Daily Beast -- Jimmy So * The Daily Beast *“The book—consisting of 650 letters both from and to Bernstein, dated between 1932 and 1990—is not merely interesting. It is fascinating, enlightening and a veritable page-turner that will keep you up nights, ruin your sleep and wreak all sorts of havoc for 600 pages.”—Steve Suskin, Playbill -- Steve Suskin * Playbill *“Magnificent and long-awaited.”—Maria Popova, Brain Pickings -- Maria Popova * Brain Pickings *“Simeone has managed to encapsulate a central tradition in the history of music of the last century as seen through the correspondence of one of its most important exponents.”—Paul Seydor, Absolute Sound -- Paul Seydor * Absolute Sound *“This anthology of Bernstein’s correspondence, assembled by Nigel Simeone, shines a light on the famous conductor and composer’s private thoughts.”—WQXR.org * WQXR.org *“Time and again, The Leonard Bernstein Letters demonstrate how the composer and conductor lived in overdrive.”—Carol Oja, Harvard Magazine -- Carol Oja * Harvard Magazine *“[Bernstein’s] manifold legacy, including these letters, lives on.”—John Simon, Weekly Standard -- John Simon * Weekly Standard *“Opens a window into the world of one of the most accomplished and brilliant artists of the 20th century.”—Irene Javors, Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review -- Irene Javors * Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review *“A marvelously entertaining new book. . . . The Leonard Bernstein Letters makes it possible to take stock of Bernstein’s weaknesses—his enthusiasm could lead to sentimentality, and clearly his fame became a kind of bubble. But these pale in comparison with his energy, joy, and absolute dedication to music. It’s sad to think that our culture will probably never produce someone like him again.”—Adam Kirsch, Tablet magazine -- Adam Kirsch * Tablet magazine *“It is a major, highly accomplished piece of work in its own right.”—Illtyd Harrington, Camden New Journal -- Illtyd Harrington * Camden New Journal *“The Leonard Bernstein Letters . . . contains so much that is startling and unknown that all past books, including his own, become instantly inadequate. Don’t take my word for it. On the jacket, Bernstein’s official biographer, Humphrey Burton, declares that, with this book in hand, ‘I want to start all over again.’”—Norman Lebrecht, Standpoint Magazine -- Norman Lebrecht * Standpoint Magazine *“In Nigel Simeone’s editorial labour of love The Leonard Bernstein Letters some of the most entertaining letters come from Bernstein’s correspondents.”—Sameer Rahim, Sunday Telegraph -- Sameer Rahim * The Sunday Telegraph *“Opinions [are] expressed with force and often with elegance in his correspondence with performers, composers, publishers, promoters and many other else, as revealed in The Leonard Bernstein Letters, edited by the eminent Bernstein scholar Nigel Simeone.”—Christopher Morley, Birmingham Post -- Christopher Morley * Birmingham Post *“The Leonard Bernstein Letters will be pounced upon by aficionados. . . . Christmas reading doesn’t come any better.”—International Record Review * International Record Review *“[The] extraordinary archive, The Leonard Bernstein Letters, [is] edited meticulously by Nigel Simeone.”—Jenni Frazer, Jewish Chronicle -- Jenni Frazer * Jewish Chronicle *“[H]ats off to Nigel Simeone for his painstaking research into the myriad references in Bernstein’s correspondence. Concerts, recordings, broadcasts, travel dates, parties, you name it, they are all meticulously recorded in the brilliant footnotes to this large collection of letters. . . . A magisterial survey.”—Fiona Clampin, Classical Music -- Fiona Clampin * Classical Music *“Top of my list for music books this Christmas has to be the new compendium of Leonard Bernstein’s collected letters which are brilliantly written, seriously engaging, and strangely contradictory, in the way that Bernstein was himself a mass of fascinating contradictions—egocentric/loving, boastful/blisteringly honest, gay/straight; with a curious ambivalence, for a Jew, towards the remnants of the Third Reich.”—Ham & High * Ham & High *“[W]hat emerges is an absorbing and highly readable portrait of a complex, larger-than-life character nicely described by a fellow-composer as ‘one of the blessed ones who make everything they encounter come alive.’”—Anthony Burton, BBC Music Magazine -- Anthony Burton * BBC Music Magazine *“The . . . mainly unpublished correspondence both from and to Bernstein, between 1932 and 1990, shines a light on this unique figure’s thoughts, work and passions, his voice ringing clear with warmth and candour. . . . He was a remarkable artist and human being—elusive in his complexity, yet evoked, through these letters, with undeniable presence.”—Teresa Levonian Cole, Country Life -- Teresa Levonian Cole * Country Life *“Offering 650 letters, this book is a major event in the documentation of the life and work of one of the greatest American musicians, who still exercises an enormous influence through his revelatory records.”—Peter Dickinson, Gramophone Magazine -- Peter Dickinson * Gramophone Magazine *“What terrifying letters you write: fit for the flames is what they are. Just imagine how much you would have to pay to retrieve such a letter forty years from now when you are conductor of the Philharmonic.”—Aaron Copland to Leonard Bernstein in 1940 -- Aaron Copland“This incredible collection of letters gives us a glimpse into the depth and breadth of Bernstein’s world. The sheer volume of correspondence, all beautifully presented and annotated by Nigel Simeone, shows us that Bernstein loved the written word as much as the musical word!”—Marin Alsop, musical director, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra -- Marin Alsop

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Book SynopsisAt the outset of his career Ted Hughes described letter-writing as ''excellent training for conversation with the world'', and he was to become a prolific master of this art which combines writing and talking. This selection begins when Hughes was seventeen, and documents the course of a life at once resolutely private but intensely attuned to other lives (including a readership comprising both adults and children); a life pared down to essentials and yet eventful, peripatetic, at times publicly controversial.Trade Review"'This is a book, like the letters of Keats, which will be read in 200 years' time.' Philip Hensher, Spectator 'This year's most surprising and rewarding book.' Blake Morrison, Guardian 'Reid's succinct annotation allows the full, unique personality to blaze out unimpeded, and the result is magnificent.' John Carey, Sunday Times"

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Book SynopsisCicero’s letters to friends span the period from 62 BC, when his political career was at its peak, to 43 BC, when he was put to death by the victorious Triumvirs.

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Book SynopsisThe Truth about St Kilda is a unique record of the isolated way of life on St Kilda in the early part of the twentieth century, based on seven handwritten notebooks written by the Rev. Donald Gillies, containing reminiscences of his childhood on the island of Hirta. It provides a first-hand account of the living conditions, social structure and economy of the community in the early 1900s, before the evacuation of the remaining residents in 1930. The memoirs describe in some detail the St Kildans' way of life, including religious life and the islanders' diet. The puritanical form of religion practised on St Kilda has often been interpreted by outsiders as austere and draconian, but Gillies' account of the islanders' religious practices makes clear the important role that these had in reinforcing the spiritual stamina of the community. This book is a lasting tribute to the adaptability and courage of a small Gaelic-speaking society which endured through two millennia on a remote cluster of islands, until its way of life could no longer be sustained.Trade Review'a remarkable document' * The Herald *

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Book SynopsisIn Letters of Note: Art, Shaun Usher celebrates extraordinary correspondence about art, from missives on the agony of being overlooked, the ecstasy of producing work that excites, to surprising sources of inspiration and rousing manifestos. Includes letters by:Michelangelo, Salvador Dali,Frida Kahlo, Artemisia Gentileschi,Oscar Howe, Martin Scorsese,Henri Matisse, Mick Jagger,Augusta Savage, Vincent van Gogh& many moreTrade ReviewPraise for Letters of Note: The literary equivalent of a box of chocolates - bite-sized and pure addictive pleasure . . . The result is beautifully produced, with photographs and colour facsimiles of much of the correspondence * * Sunday Times * *Addictive, like dipping into a bag of variously tempting assorted candies, knowing that the next one will always bring surprise and pleasure * * New Yorker * *A gloriously presented compilation * * Financial Times * *As a guide to letters that deserve a wider readership, Usher's compilation is hard to beat * * Scotland on Sunday * *Quite literally the most enjoyable volume it is possible to imagine. Every page is a marvel * * Spectator * *It is hard to see how Letters Of Note could ever be surpassed * * Mail on Sunday * *Funny, tragic, brilliantly incisive, historic, lyrical, romantic and studiedly offensive, this stupendous compendium of letters ancient and modern is my book of the year. You will never tire of it -- Stephen FryIt is inspiring, and often sad, funny, and occasionally quite surreal * * GQ * *A wonderful collection of magical missives . . . It'll have you reaching for pen and paper * * Evening Standard * *A truly extraordinary reading experience * * Big Issue * *

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Book SynopsisThis interactive journal inspired by Bob Ross will spark the imagination with a series of creative prompts for sketching, writing, mindfulness, and goal-setting; motivational quotes; and Ross''s signature landscape artwork throughout.This journal features:* Bob Ross-inspired prompts to stimulate the creativity of artists and anyone with a creative bent. The interactive elements include ideas for sketching, writing, activities, mindful practices, and dream-scaping.* Motivational quotes.* Full-colour artwork spotted throughout.* Distinctive flocked cover, giving Bob Ross''s signature hairstyle a tactile feel.* Full-colour illustrated hardcover binding with rounded corners throughout.* Lined and blank interior pages, printed on woodfree paper.

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Book Synopsis_____________''Brilliant'' - Observer''Vivid, hyperactive, combative, ferociously intelligent and iconoclastic'' - Guardian''Splendidly corrosive'' - Independent_____________The Proud Highway is a literary milestone. The first volume in Hunter S. Thompson's intimate letters begins with a high school essay written in 1955, and takes us through 1967, when the publication of Hell's Angels made the author an international celebrity. Thompson's prolific and often profound correspondence gives us an unforgettable insight into the world during the Cold War era, as well as an authoritative introduction to the cultural revolution of the sixties. With a vicious eye for detail and rude wit he writes to such luminaries as Norman Mailer, Tom Wolfe, Lyndon Johnson and Joan Baez. These letters represent the evolution of the original, a singular voice defying an era of banality, and cements Thompson's reputation as one of the great

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Book SynopsisA revelatory collection of letters from the nation's favourite storyteller.Trade ReviewLove From Boy, in all its cunning unreliability, becomes more fascinating the more you think about it. It is a work of showmanship, written for someone to whom the author would always be a child. As the backdrop to one of the world's greatest children's writers, it's so wonderfully complicated you'd have thought even Dahl couldn't have made it up. Except that he did - Daily TelegraphSturrock's carefully chosen letters, complemented by a judicious selection of biographical and photographic material, testify to a bond between mother and son that is unbreakable, even in the face of boarding school, war and sexual jokes about Hitler - The Times, Book of the WeekSturrock is right to claim that the letters to his mother show, in embryo, essential features of Dahl's art, such as his fantastical imagination and his sadistic sense of humour - Sunday TimesThe Dahl sense of thrill, mischief, and storytelling is ever present in these missives, even in the most trying of times. But what is most refreshing is a famous, busy, peripatetic son devoting so much time to staying in touch with 'Mama'. This alone makes him a national treasure - PsychologiesIt is in Roald Dahl's childhood correspondence that we see charming glimpses of his future subjects - FT

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Book SynopsisThe second volume of the definitive collection of Dylan Thomas's letters.Trade ReviewDylan Thomas's life and letters read like a cry of despair, interspersed with rare moments of happiness in Wales . . . A moving book. The pain is too real, the tragedy too pitiful to leave any reader untouched - Sunday TimesHis letters are as funny, and nearly as witty, as Oscar Wilde's, and sometimes almost as wise as Keats's - Sunday Telegraph

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Book Synopsis*The fresh, frank and very funny new novel from Dawn O'Porter CAT LADY is available to buy now*Dawn O'Porter has been thinking a lot about life.Mostly from a cupboard (and she's definitely not hiding from her children).Fearless, funny and unflinchingly real, Life in Pieces is a diary of a time we'll all remember forever laughing through the tears, finding comfort in the chaos and (in Dawn's case, at least) discovering the life-changing properties of a midday margarita.So if you need a shake-up in your life, here's the tonic with a perfect splash of tequilaWhat should you expect? Tears, belly laughs and to come out the other side wanting Dawn O'Porter to be your best friend' Marie ClaireI''ve rattled through it . . . Dawn O''Porter redresses the balance by telling it as it really has been: fighting a losing battle against a tide of mess, noise and need, and holding out for 5pm to crack open the tequila' Mark WatsonTrade Review‘Moving and funny. I absolutely loved it’ Claudia Winkleman ‘An intimate, honest account of the first three months of isolation . . . Her book is a paean to what is truly important’ Telegraph ‘It is very funny but also intimate and honest’ Louis Theroux ‘Poignant and funny’ Red ‘I've rattled through it . . . There's been a lot of well-meaning but mad advice on how to contend with the strangest period of human history any of us has ever lived through. Dawn O'Porter redresses the balance by telling it as it really has been, for many of us: holding out for 5pm to crack open the tequila’ Mark Watson ‘Funny and heart-rending in equal measure’ Sunday Express Praise for Dawn O’Porter: ‘Fierce and funny’ Bryony Gordon, Daily Telegraph ‘Smart and insightful’ Red ‘A total joy . . . Compulsively funny’ Matt Haig ‘Straight-talking . . . tackles a host of topical issues’ Sunday Express ‘Dawn's writing is addictive – fearless, beyond feisty and seriously funny’ Mel Giedroyc ‘Dawn O' Porter has the ability to make everyone want to be her best friend’ OK ‘Funny and very honest’ Davina McCall ‘Entertaining and thought-provoking’ Irish Times

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Book SynopsisDear Nan (sketch design) is an award-winning journal filled with over 60 fun and inspiring questions carefully created to inspire any grandmother to tell her story - probably one of the most valuable gifts you will ever buy. Everyone has stories to share about their own amazing life and it is so important to find ways to capture and treasure them. Dear Nan contains 60 carefully designed questions to ask her about her life. Ask her to complete it carefully, adding photos and memorabilia along the way. Find out how things have changed throughout her life, what things did she do as a child that are different from today. What were her own parents really like and what adventures has she had in her life. Discover what your own mum or dad was like when they were young! What about your own relationship with your grandmother, what are her favourite memories of the times you have spent together and is there any advice she would like to give you? When you get her completed journal returned to you, this will be one of the most emotional presents you have ever received. A great gift for Mother's Day, Grandparent's Day, her birthday, an anniversary, Christmas or just because you care ...

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Book SynopsisAlongside Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, and Oscar Wilde, Lord Byron possesses a star-quality unlike other classic British authors. His life as poet, philanderer, homosexual, and freedom fighter is legendary, and this new selection from his powerful letters and journals tells the story from the inside, in Byron''s own racy and passionate style. Though Byron is chiefly known as a poet, his letters and journals are one of the glories of English prose literature, and one of the greatest British acts of autobiography, alongside Pepys'' Diary and Boswell''s Journal. This new selection, taken from the authoritative and unbowdlerized edition prepared by Leslie Marchand in the 1970s, not only provides the cream of his informal prose; it amounts to a biography in Byron''s own words. No other English writer lived so remarkable an existence, from rented rooms in Aberdeen to a Nottinghamshire peerage, from European fame to English infamy, and notorious Italian exile to a glorious death in the GrTrade Review... a much-needed new collection of Byron's incomparable letters and journals... Lansdown is... a generous and sensitive appreciator of Byron's literary genius The volume as a whole presents an appropriately engrossing, moving, hilarious, and sometimes heartbreaking sampler of the coruscating brilliance of one of the greater letter writers in the English language. * Jeffery Vail, Keats-Shelley Journal *This selection, which reads like a biography in his own words, is a dramatic and volatile portrait which takes the reader from England to Greece, from fame to infamy. * Robert Tanitch, Mature Times *It is time to talk about Lord Byron again. It is also time to read him again, and I recommend Lansdowns Selected Letters and Journals as an excellent place to start. * Amit Majmuder, Able Muse *Richard Landsdown's book is a selection from Marchand's 12, with copious biographical notes. It is hard to reduce twelve to one, but Lansdown has done well, giving readers a lively sense of "this singularly magnetic individual". * Denis Donoghue, Irish Times *Lansdown does a valiant job of representing the thought processes and publishing dilemmas behind the major works * Corin Throsby, Times Literary Supplement *... it is well-judged, gives good coverage to different periods of Byron's life, and feels substantially representative ... * Keats-Shelley Review *informed, sympathetic and well-researched... deeply interesting and well-chosen selection * Tablet, Robert Carver *This new selection of Byron's proseis arranged chronologically and linked by so much informed, sympathetic and well-researched explanatory material that it amounts to a sort of biography. * The Tablet *This is a deeply interesting and well-chosen selection, unusually clearly printed on the highest-quality pure, white, thick paper, with superb binding: it resembles more a quality production from a private press than a trade publication, and it will certainly last several lifetimes. * The Tablet *splendid volume * Open Letters Monthly *The 500-odd footnoted pages Lansdown has selected are aimed not at scholars and students but at intelligent readers of literary prose. * Independent *This is Byron in the raw and can only add to his legend * Northern Echo *when you line Bryon's letters up like this, one after the other, you can't help but notice the growth of something like art...his prose is extraordinary * Sunday Telegraph, Benjamin Markovitz *Table of ContentsIntroduction Note on the Text and Short Titles A Biographical Bibliography 1: Childhood, Boyhood, Youth: January 1788-June 1809 2: The Grand Tour: June 1809-July 1811 3: Childe Harold and Caroline Lamb: July 1811-June 1813 4: The Giaour and Augusta Leigh: June 1813-July 1814 5: Marriage and Separation: August 1814-April 1816 6: Exile: April-November 1816 7: Venice and Rome: November 1816-June 1818 8: Don Juan and Teresa Guiccioli: July 1818-December 1819 9: Ravenna: December 1819-October 1821 10: Pisa: October 1821-September 1822 11: Genoa: October 1822-July 1823 12: Greece: August 1823-April 1824 Afterword Index

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Book SynopsisA revelatory collection of letters written by the author of The Broken RoadTrade ReviewWow - one tour de force after another! The best letters are as good as - if not better than - any in the language: Byron's, Walpole's, Henry James's, Freya Stark's. Often I laughed aloud, tears coursing down the cheeks -- John Julius NorwichZestful, vivid and buoyant with polymathic learning, Leigh Fermor's letters reveal themselves perfect for anthology. There are descriptions and anecdotes equal to anything in his writing, spurred by memorable friendships, suffused with affection and occasional distress: all finely edited by Adam Sisman -- Colin ThubronHugely entertaining, funny and occasionally moving . . . edited meticulously and brilliantly * Observer *Zest, verbal finesse, almost pristine receptivity and a richly informed cultural and historical consciousness make these letters, even when the erosions of time and illness shadow them, irresistibly exhilarating * Sunday Times *Adam Sisman is a model editor . . . Reading these letters is like gobbling down a tray of exotically filled chocolates, with no horrible orange creams to put you off -- Harry Mount * Literary Review *Here is a veritable feast for fans of Paddy Leigh Fermor . . . Sisman has done a tremendous job selecting and editing this treasure-trove of letters -- Justin Marozzi * The Spectator *Glorious, heady stuff . . . judiciously edited by Adam Sisman -- Ian Thomson * Evening Standard *Adam Sisman's selection of Patrick Leigh Fermor's letters is entirely admirable . . . an unmissable feast -- Lewis Jones * Daily Telegraph *Superbly edited . . . To read these letters and their superb footnotes is to walk with some of the great ghosts of 20th century literature -- Rory Knight Bruce * Oldie *A feast of adventure, gossip and flirtation * The Spectator *It remains an outright pleasure to be admitted to the company of such a man. This is one of those books that make you feel a little bereft when you finish it * Catholic Herald *A fascinating and engaging sort of autobiography full of the charm found in his travel writings. Wonderful to dip into * Guardian Review *

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Book SynopsisOn 7 July 2014, in an apparent response to the murder of three teenagers, Israel launched a major offensive against the Gaza Strip, lasting 51 days, killing 2145 Palestinians (578 of them children), injuring over 11,000, and demolishing 17,200 homes. The usual news machine rolled up, and the same distressing images and entrenched political rhetoric were broadcast, yet almost nothing was reported of the on-going lives of ordinary Gazans – the real victims of the war. One of the few voices to make it out was that of Atef Abu Saif, a writer and teacher from Jabalia Refugee Camp, whose eye-witness accounts (published in The Guardian, The New York Times, and elsewhere) offered a rare window into the conflict for Western readers. Here, Atef’s complete diaries of the war allow us to witness the full extent of last summer’s atrocities from the most humble of perspectives: that of a young father, fearing for his family’s safety, trying to stay sane in an insanely one-sided war.Trade Review‘Witnessed, lived, and recorded page by page. A searing account of living through the 2014 bombardment of Gaza. We who report it can never capture the true scale of individual and collective suffering. As a Gaza resident, Atef Abu Saif's diary provides an insight no outsider could ever have achieved.’ – Jon Snow; 'In this luminous account of Israel’s 2014 invasion of Gaza, Atef Abu Saif creates a literary equivalent to Goya’s Disasters of War. The Drone Eats with Me deserves to become a modern classic of war literature. But for all the surrealist absurdity of the horrors Abu Saif chronicles, the book pulses throughout with the sublime, mundane and ferocious love for life.' – Molly Crabapple, author of Drawing Blood; 'The Drone Eats with Me is a devastating contemporary war journal. This is what war is like in the 21st century – the voice of a civilian in the onslaught of drone warfare, a voice we have never heard before.' – Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient and Divisadero.

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Book SynopsisThe collected letters of John McGahern, 'one of the greatest writers of our era' (Hilary Mantel) and 'the most important Irish novelist since Samuel Beckett.' (Guardian)

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Book SynopsisSurrounded by the artists, writers and musicians who made up her court in Boston as they did in Venice, Isabella Stewart Gardner, a passionate art collector, was as revered and sought after as royalty. Henry James was inspired by the rich and powerful Gardner, as well as by the Palazzo Barbaro in Venice, when he wrote his novel The Wings of the Dove. Gardner was to recreate a larger-than-life version of Palazzo Barbaro in Boston, which is now the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. These dazzling letters bring to life James's passion for Venice and the Palazzo Barbaro, and serve as an introduction to the fascinating world of Isabella Stewart Gardner herself.

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Book Synopsis‘From the author of our former Non-Fiction Book of the Month Fifty Words for Snow comes a luminous collection of fascinating seasonal tales that explore everything from Tove Jansson's childhood to polar bird myths.’ Waterstones A treasure trove of nature tales from storytellers across the globe, bringing a little magic and wonder to every winter night. As the evenings draw in – a time of reckoning, rest and restoration – immerse yourself in this new seasonal anthology. Nature Tales for Winter Nights puts winter – rural, wild and urban – under the microscope and reveals its wonder. From the late days of autumn, through deepest cold, and towards the bright hope of spring, here is a collection of familiar names and dazzling new discoveries. Join the naturalist Linnæus travelling on horseback in Lapland, witness frost fairs on the Thames and witch-hazel harvesting in Connecticut, experience Alpine adventure, polar bird myths and courtship in the snow in classical Japan and ancient Rome. Observations from Beth Chatto’s garden and Tove Jansson’s childhood join company with artists’ private letters, lines from Anne Frank’s diary and fireside stories told by indigenous voices. A hibernation companion, this book will transport you across time and country this winter. ___ Praise for Fifty Words for Snow, a Waterstones Book of the Month: ‘Absolutely exquisite. This little book is a work of art.’ Horatio Clare, author of The Light in the Dark ‘This stunning book made me want to pack all my woolies, candles, ample firewood and enough books for a year – and head to as northerly a location as I could find.’ Kerri ní Dochartaigh, Caught by the River ‘A delightful compendium’ The Herald ‘Winter has its own special magic, and this collection from around the world makes you want to pull on your boots and get out there.’ Saga Trade Review‘From the author of our former Non-Fiction Book of the Month Fifty Words for Snow comes a luminous collection of fascinating seasonal tales that explore everything from Tove Jansson's childhood to polar bird myths.’ Waterstones ‘As we travel into the coldest season and approach the shortest day of the year, this book is a perfect companion to help you while away the long wintry nights’ The Countryman ‘Winter has its own special magic, and this collection from around the world makes you want to pull on your boots and get out there.’ Saga  ‘Rich, multi-layered and deeply meaningful. … This anthology isn’t twee or cutesy – it is profound, surprising and moving. It will transport you to another place and time and bring a new, nuanced understanding of our coldest season.’ Resurgence & Ecologist

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Book SynopsisChiltern Publishing creates beautifully crafted editions of the World's finest literature. Their extraordinary and unique classic cover designs have evolved into exquisite, handcrafted writing journals of a high art form. Put simply: they are the finest writing journals on the market.

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Book Synopsis A treasure trove of noteworthy letters, arranged thematically to provide an insight into the lives and work of great artists. Trade Review"This attractive volume includes letters from artists to fellow artists, friends, patrons and lovers. Hearing from artists in their own words gives an extraordinary glimpse into their lives and artistic thought process. Some of these people could paint with words, too!" * Sartle: Rogue Art History *"Fascinating, instructive, thought-provoking, and memorable." * Midwest Book Review *"A great book to dip into when you have a few moments or when you’d like to put on a pot of coffee or tea and indulge yourself for a few hours." * COLOR Magazine *Table of Contents006 Introduction 1 ‘I saw the new giraffe’ Family & Friends Salvador Dalí to Paul Éluard Francisco Lucientes y Goya to Martín Zapater Lucian Freud to Stephen Spender Vanessa Bell to Duncan Grant Michelangelo Buonarroti to Lionardo di Buonarroto Simoni Philip Guston to Elise Asher Beatrix Potter to Noel Moore Piet Mondrian to Kurt Seligmann Gustav Klimt to Josef Lewinsky Jasper Johns to Rosamund Felsen Edward Burne-Jones to Daphne Gaskell William Blake to William Hayley Alexander Calder to Agnes Rindge Claflin Zhu Da to Fang Shiguan Camille Pissarro to Julie Pissarro Marcel Duchamp to Suzanne Duchamp Dorothea Tanning to Joseph Cornell 2 ‘Like a sleepwalker’ Artist to Artist Paul Gauguin to Vincent van Gogh Vincent van Gogh to Paul Gauguin Sebastiano del Piombo to Michelangelo Buonarroti Paul Signac to Claude Monet David Alfaro Siqueiros to Jackson Pollock, Sande Pollock and Harold Lehman Pablo Picasso to Jean Cocteau Mark Rothko to Lee Krasner Édouard Manet to Eugène Maus David Hockney to Kenneth E. Tyler Francis Picabia to Alfred Stieglitz Robert Smithson to Enno Develing Claude Monet to Berthe Morisot Ulay and Marina Abramović to Mike Parr Mike Parr to Marina Abramović and Ulay Benvenuto Cellini to Michelangelo John Constable to John Thomas Smith 3 ‘Your book on witchcraft’ Gifts & Greetings Cindy Sherman to Arthur C. Danto Joseph Cornell to Marcel Duchamp Leonora Carrington to Kurt Seligmann Wang Zhideng to a friend Yayoi Kusama to Donald Judd George Grosz to Erich S. Herrmann Yoko Ono and John Lennon to Joseph Cornell Joan Miró to Marcel Breuer 4 ‘The best I have painted’ Patrons & Supporters Guercino and Paolo Antonio Barbieri to unknown recipient Nancy Spero to Lucy Lippard Pierre-Auguste Renoir to Georges Charpentier Roy Lichtenstein to Ellen H. Johnson Peter Paul Rubens to Balthasar Gerbier Cy Twombly to Leo Castelli Winslow Homer to Thomas B. Clarke Eva Hesse to Helene Papanek Mary Cassatt to John Wesley Beatty Jackson Pollock to Louis Bunce Leonardo da Vinci to Ludovico Sforza Egon Schiele to Hermann Engel William Hogarth to T.H. Joseph Beuys to Otto Mauer Agnes Martin to Samuel J. Wagstaff Judy Chicago to Lucy Lippard 5 ‘Hey beautiful’ Love Frida Kahlo to Diego Rivera Joan Mitchell to Michael Goldberg Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres to Marie-Anne-Julie Forestier Paul Nash to Margaret Odeh Ad Reinhardt to Selina Trieff Jules Olitski to Joan Olitski Jean Cocteau to unknown recipient Alfred Stieglitz to Georgia O’Keeffe Georgia O’Keeffe to Alfred Stieglitz Auguste Rodin to Camille Claudel Camille Claudel to Auguste Rodin Ben Nicholson to Barbara Hepworth Eileen Agar to Joseph Bard 6 ‘My 1244 guilders’ Professional Matters Nicolas Poussin to Paul Scarron Henry Fuseli to unknown recipient Henry Moore to John Rothenstein James McNeill Whistler to Frederick H. Allen Joshua Reynolds to Philip Yorke Anni Albers to Gloria Finn Naum Gabo to Marcel Breuer Rembrandt van Rijn to Constantijn Huygens Gustave Courbet to Philippe de Chennevières Aubrey Beardsley to Frederick Evans Kazimir Malevich to Anatoly Lunacharksy John Linnell to James Muirhead Andy Warhol to Russell Lynes 7 ‘I hope to get to Venice’ Travel Edward Lear to Hallam Tennyson Berenice Abbott to John Henry Bradley Storrs Georges and Marcelle Braque to Paul Dermée and Carolina Goldstein John Ruskin to unknown recipient Helen Frankenthaler and Robert Motherwell to Maria and Hans Hofmann Albrecht Dürer to Willibald Pirckheimer Carl Andre to Eva Hesse Francis Bacon to Erica Brausen Ana Mendieta to Judith Wilson Lee Krasner to Jackson Pollock 8 ‘I see better’ Signing Off Thomas Gainsborough to Thomas Harvey Paul Cézanne to Émile Bernard Timeline Index Picture Credits

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Book SynopsisThe BBC and HBO series Gentleman Jack brought Anne Lister to international attention, awakening tremendous interest in her diaries, which run to nearly five million words and are partly written in her secret code. They record in intimate detail Anne’s intellectual energy and her challenges to so many of society’s expectations of women at the time.In As Good as a Marriage, the sequel to Female Fortune, Jill Liddington’s edited transcriptions of the diaries show us Anne from 1836–38. She guides the reader through life at Shibden Hall after Anne’s unconventional ‘marriage’ to wealthy local heiress Ann Walker. The book explores the daily lives of these two women, from convivial evenings together to her ruthless pursuit of her own business and landowning ambitions.Yet the diaries’ coded passages also record tensions and quarrels, with Ann Walker often in tears. Was their relationship really as fragile as Anne’s coded writing suggests? This question is at the heart of As Good as a Marriage.Trade Review'This meticulous study of a key two-year period in the marriage of Anne Lister and Ann Walker is a must-read for scholars and fans alike. Liddington highlights key passages of the diaries and letters while providing invaluable context and commentary.'Jen Manion, author of Female Husbands ‘Jill Liddington delivers a thorough analysis of the critical years following Anne Lister and Ann Walker’s union. Utilizing her own transcription of Lister’s famously challenging “crypthand”, Liddington brings us into the room as the couple struggles against challenges from within and without. Whether you’re a fan of the BBC’s Gentleman Jack or an Anne Lister scholar, this book is not to be missed.’Pat Esgate, organiser of the Anne Lister Birthday Weekend'As Good as a Marriage continues the amazing Anne Lister/Gentleman Jack story. Jill Liddington’s excellent introduction and careful editing of letters and diaries for the mid-1830s gives access to the personal, business and political life of this powerful lesbian couple.'Catherine Hall, co-author of Family Fortunes: Men and Women of the English Middle Class 1780–1850 -- .Table of ContentsPrefaceIntroductionNote on the Text I. Living married life at Shibden: May-August 1836II. The last of the generation: September-October 1836III. Mariana visits Shibden: November-December 1836IV: maintaining the upper hand: January-May 1837V: Getting Stuart Wortleys in Parliament: June-December 1837VI: How to get off ~ & to where? January-May 1838EpilogueAfterwordIndex

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Book Synopsis'Inspiring' GUARDIAN 'Heartbreaking' INDEPENDENT 'I loved it' ADAM KAY 'Beautiful' MATT HAIG 'Luminous' NICCI GERRARD 'Essential reading' MADELEINE BUNTING 'A celebration' CHRISTIE WATSON ----- A Best Book for Summer in The Times, Guardian and The i Independent Book of the Month ----- Caring is an issue that affects us all - as bestselling novelist Kate Mosse knows all too well. Kate has cared in turn for her father and mother, and for Granny Rosie, her 90-year-old mother-in-law. Along the way she has experienced the joys, challenges and frustrations shared by an invisible army of carers. At the heart of this care lie everyday acts of love, and the realisation that, sooner or later, most of us will come to rely on an extra pair of hands. ----- 'Lifts the spirits without pulling punches' IAN RANKIN 'Irresistible' RACHEL JOYCE 'Questions how and why we fetishise independence when the reality of human experience is always interdependence' GUARDIAN, BOOK OF THE DAY 'Heartfelt, funny and at times heartbreaking. 10/10' INDEPENDENT 'Utterly beautiful' FRANCESCA SEGALTrade ReviewBrilliant ... uplifting, inspiring, a tribute to love -- Elif Shafak * Guardian *Heartfelt and sometimes shocking ... Fierce and tender, her book is a clarion call for an overhaul of our dysfunctional care system -- Must Read Paperbacks * Daily Mail *A beautiful, profoundly moving book about society's most vital glue - care -- Rachel ClarkeA must read -- Penny WincerEssential reading -- Madeleine BuntingI read it in one sitting -- Christie WatsonMoving -- Book of the Day * Guardian *An incisive, profoundly humane blend of the personal and the political -- Gwendolyn Smith * The i *A beautiful, emotional and timely read -- Matt HaigA beacon of light -- Nicci GerrardKeep the tissues handy. 10/10 * Independent *Shot through with honesty, heartbreak and joy. I loved it -- Adam KayTimely * Observer *Lifts the spirits without pulling punches -- Ian RankinIrresistible -- Rachel JoyceThis book will be a huge help to both carers and the cared-for -- Deborah MoggachExtraordinary -- Catherine MeyerWonderful ... uplifting and hopeful -- Cathy RentzenbrinkA heartfelt reminder of why people become carers -- Kate Saunders * Times *Moving -- Book of the Month, Martin Chilton * Independent *An ode to the invisible army of carers holding families together * Reaction *Mosse writes movingly about returning the caring favour and the end that waits for us all -- 50 Best Summer Books * Times *Timely and important * The Oldie *Utterly beautiful - honest, tender, and uplifting -- Francesca Segal

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Book Synopsis

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