Published diaries, letters and journals Books

Book SynopsisIn her New York Times bestselling book Living Beyond Your Feelings, Joyce Meyer examines the gamut of emotions that human beings experience and explains how we can manage our reactions to those emotions. This journal offers a safe place to explore those feelings while being encouraged and inspired by quotes from the book. Whether you are dealing with anger, resentment, sadness, loss, grief, or fear, this journal can help you work through those emotions and replace them with actions that lead to lasting happinessEllie Claire's LeatherLuxe® material is paired with detailed burnishing plus a four-color interior design to create this stunning journal. The rich feel of leather is finished with rounded corners and intricate stitching to make this journal an extraordinary gift for any time of year.FEATURES:Acid free paper and inkPremium, thick, non-bleed paperPrinted and burnished orange and gray LeatherLuxe® coverPresentation page for personalizationRibbon marker Rounded corners Intricate stitching on cover

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Book SynopsisOf the ten thousand letters that Aldous Huxley wrote, only a fraction have been published. Those that were once considered too sensitive for publication can now be included in a wholly new collection. James Sexton's thoughtful selection opens new perspectives on one of the giants of prose. Huxley's letters movingly depict his courageous battle with almost total blindness. Later letters to his patroness demonstrate the brilliance that would soon gain Huxley an international reputation as one of his generation's major satirists. Gradually the letters reveal a shift from cynical satirist to a committed critic of fascism. The letters also provide plentiful insights into the London and New York theater scenes, and vivid discussions of Hollywood's film industry.Trade ReviewAldous Huxley's letters represent a valuable contribution to literary history-and an entertaining one. They reflect his high seriousness, and the extraordinary range of his cultural interests; at the same time they abound in witty gossip and shrewdly observed social detail. They also reveal many unexpected aspects of his personality and his private life. The Huxley who emerges from these pages is both formidable and very human. He can sometimes be arrogant or wrong-headed, too-but that doesn't make him any less readable. -- John GrossA fascinating and revelatory glimpse into the mental engine room of one of the twentieth-century's most commanding men of letters. Huxley knew everybody, and everybody knew him: these letters provide a vital record of an extraordinary moment in Europe's history as well as a portrait of an extraordinary man. A volume as entertaining as it is illuminating. -- Roger KimballThese newly published letters of Aldous Huxley are like the discovery of buried treasure. It is as if some leading figure from the Age of Enlightenment had survived into the present. Expressing himself so naturally and often wittily in these letters, he sets a lasting example of intelligence and humanity. -- David Pryce JonesHis reading was immense, his taste was impeccable, and his ear acute...His place in English literature is unique and is certainly assured. -- T. S. EliotHuxley was among the few writers who played with ideas so freely, so gaily, with such virtuosity, that the responsive reader was dazzled and excited. -- Isaiah Berlin"An illuminating work.... Sexton helps reveal Huxley more fully than ever before." * Publishers Weekly *A book of letters, many previously unpublished, reinforces the impression that Aldous Huxley was attracted to eccentric ideas ... ENGROSSING. * The New York Times *Main pleasures here derive from correspondence with two women, one of whom Huxley shared as a lover with his wife. * The New York Times *Brings a new perspective on the personal and intellectual life of a giant of modern English prose. * Sarasota Herald-Tribune *Remarkable scope...its hundreds of never-before-published letters recommend it for large academic libraries. -- Paulina Taglienti * Library Journal *Letters extend one’s sense of Huxley’s ubiquitous presence in 20th-century intellectual society....Attractive collection represents diligent research....Recommended. * CHOICE *A powerful gathering of his personal and intellectual life in letters-most of them published for the first time. * Midwest Book Review *We see Huxley's full range: husband, traveler, lover, aesthete, and scathing social commentator....Sexton has done an invaluable service. -- ELLIE THERMANSEN * The New Criterion *There are wonderful things in these letters: dazzling historical, literary-critical and etymological excursions; very funny gossip; reflections on Huxley's writing…and on his increasingly religious reading and sympathies. -- JEREMY TREGLOWN * Times Literary Supplement *Sexton's attractive collection represents diligent research in dozens of libraries, and his useful introduction places the letters in the context of Huxley's life and friendships. * CHOICE *

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Book SynopsisThis volume compiles and annotates for the first time the complete correspondence of the eighteenth-century British author Charlotte Lennox, best known for her novel The Female Quixote. Lennox corresponded with famous contemporaries from different walks of life such as James Boswell, David Garrick, Samuel Johnson, and Sir Joshua Reynolds, and she interacted with many other influential figures including her patroness the Countess of Bute, publisher Andrew Millar, and the Reverend Thomas Winstanley. In addition to Lennox’s and her correspondents’ letters, this book presents related documents such as the author’s proposals for subscription editions of her works, her file with the Royal Literary Fund, and a series of poems and stories supposedly composed by her son but perhaps written by herself. In these carefully and extensively annotated documents, Charlotte Lennox traces the vagaries in the career of a female writer in the male-dominated eighteenth-century literary marketplace. The introduction situates Lennox in the context of contemporaneous print culture and specifically examines the contentious question of the authorship of The Female Quixote, Lennox’s experimentation with various forms of publication, and her appeals for charity to the Royal Literary Fund when she was impoverished towards the end of her life. The author who emerges from Charlotte Lennox was an active, assertive, innovative, and independent woman trying to find her place—and make a literary career—in eighteenth-century Britain. Thus, this volume makes an important contribution to the history of female authorship, literary history, and eighteenth-century studies.Trade ReviewSchD"urer (California State Univ., Long Beach) presents a learned, highly readable, and engaging set of all known letters relating to 18th-century English author Charlotte Lennox (c1730-1804). His copious, meticulous bibliographical research shows the long, complicated personal and literary life of Lennox, whose sex often negatively affected her ability to make a living. The preface details editorial practices and glosses terms. The introduction describes Lennox's enigmatic early life and her tragic final years, as it contextualizes her prolific work. Schürer fills in information on the publishing and legal worlds of the time (material that helps explain Lennox's actions) and also her close relationships with prominent literary mentors such as Johnson, Boswell, and Richardson, and aristocratic patrons such as the Countess of Bute and the Marquess of Rockingham. In the useful, extensive notes, the editor explains historical events and literary circumstances related to the letters and to supplementary documents in the appendixes. Readers need not have specialized knowledge or theoretical background to understand the content and value of this volume, which is easy to read and has an informal but scholarly tone. Summing Up: Recommended. * CHOICE *Norbet Schürer has produced a thoughtful and well-researched annotated edition of the correspondence of Charlotte Lennox (1729-1804) supplemented documents that assist in placing her life in context. Both her letters and the documents from the Royal Literary Fund, correspondence and ledger information, are collected here for the first time, making it possible to approach Lennox as one had already been able to approach Wollstonecraft, Burney, and Inchbald: as a businesswoman and author. In addition, Schürer provides brief biographies of Lennox’s correspondents, adding to the depth and usefulness of his edition as a research and teaching tool. Strongly recommended for advance courses in British literature, courses in women’s studies, and in courses that deal with eighteenth-century genres. * The Eighteenth-Century Intelligencer *[Norbert Schürer] is. . . able to construct an appealingly unified narrative of Lennox’s professional life, taking us from her early requests for patronage, through various failed subscription projects up to her eventual friendship with the Boswell family and the desperate financial and medical plights of her final years. Supplementing this narrative are the fascinating ‘miscellaneous documents’ described in the book’s title. * British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies *

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Book Synopsis1975: A young Irish-American man joins an elite US Marine unit to get the most intensive military training possible ? then joins the Irish Republican Army, during the days of some of the bloodiest fighting ever in the Irish-British conflict . . . The Irish "Troubles" were at a murderous fever pitch when John Crawley volunteered for the IRA. Bloody Friday, Bloody Sunday, the bombing of the British Houses of Parliament, and other deadly incidents had recently unfolded or were about to ... Civilian casualties were common as British soldiers, Republican militants (who wanted the UK out of Northern Ireland) and Unionist police and militants (who wanted to remain in the UK), engaged in gun battles and car bombing throughout Northern Ireland. The death toll numbered over 1,000. The IRA split over how to react between the old-line IRA, and the new Provisional IRA ? the Provos, mostly impassioned young men who were not hesitant to resort to violence. In a powerful, brutally honest, no-holds-barred recounting of his experience, John Crawley details, first, the grueling challenges of his Marine Corps training, then how he put his hard-earned munitions and demolitions skills to use back in Ireland in service of the Provos. It is a story that will see him running guns with notorious American mobster ? and secret IRA fundraiser ? Whitey Bulger; running, under cover of night, from safe house to safe house in the Irish countryside, one step ahead of British troops; being captured, imprisoned, and being part of a mass escape attempt; fending off a recruitment offer from the CIA; and being one of the masterminds behind a campaign to take out London''s electrical system. Along the way, Crawley is blisteringly candid about the memorable people he worked with, including behind-the-scenes portrayals of revered IRA leader Martin McGuinness, and of the psychopathic Whitey Bulger, as well as others in the Boston IRA support network. There are vivid portraits of colleagues and enemies, and Crawley is unflinching in his commentary on IRA leadership and their tactics, both military and political. Through it all comes the steadfast voice of a man on a mission, providing an evocative, detailed, and passionate recounting of where that mission led him and why ? as well as why, to this day, he remains ready to serve.

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Book SynopsisGrowing in faith can be difficult if you don''t have deep roots to strengthen or nourish you. These daily devotions provide biblical wisdom to help readers cultivate a purposeful life full of courage, faith, and love. The journaling lines are the perfect place to praise God''s beautiful creation, reflect on the day''s Scripture reading, or record prayers and dreams.

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Book SynopsisDr. Michael Baden has been involved in some of the most high-profile civil rights and police brutality cases in US history, from the government’s 1976 re-investigation of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the 2014 death of Michael Brown, whose case sparked the initial Ferguson protests that grew into the Black Lives Matter movement. The playbook hasn’t changed since 1979, when Dr. Baden was demoted from his job as New York City’s Chief Medical Examiner after ruling that the death of a Black man in police custody was a homicide. So, in 2020 when the Floyd family, wary of the same system that oversaw George Floyd’s death, needed a second opinion - Dr. Baden is who they called. In these pages, Dr. Baden chronicles his six decades on the front lines of the fight for accountability within the legal system - including the long history of medical examiners of using a controversial syndrome called excited delirium (a term that shows up in the pathology report for George Floyd) to explain away the deaths of BIPOC restrained by police. In the process, he brings to life the political issues that go on in the wake of often unrecorded fatal police encounters and the standoff between law enforcement and those they are sworn to protect. Full of behind-the-scenes drama and surprising revelations, American Autopsy is an invigorating - and enraging - read that is both timely and crucial for this turning point in our nation’s history.

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Book SynopsisRecord your magical adventures with the Harry Potter Dumbledore’s Army Hardcover Ruled Journal, a new addition to Insight Editions’ best-selling line of Harry Potter hardcover journals!In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry starts a secret student group dedicated to studying Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now fans can feel like a member of Dumbledore’s Army with this deluxe hardcover ruled journal. This finely crafted journal—one of several new additions to Insight Editions’ best-selling line of Harry Potter journals—displays photography and concept art from the memorable DA scenes in the film, including character snapshots, prop images, and more! With sturdy construction and a sewn binding, this journal lies flat, and the 192 lined, acid-free pages of high-quality, heavy stock paper take both pen and pencil nicely to encourage inspiration. The journal also features a ribbon placeholder, elastic closure, and a 7.5 x 4.5-inch back pocket, ideal for holding photographs and mementos. The perfect accessory to the beloved Harry Potter films, the Harry Potter Dumbledore’s Army Hardcover Ruled Journal invites fans to bring a magical touch to their everyday writing.

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Book SynopsisDecorated with striking imagery from the beloved Harry Potter film series and featuring a refreshing new design, this pocket journal is an exciting addition to Insight Editions’ best-selling line of collectible journals.Founded by Godric Gryffindor, Gryffindor house is noted for the courage and determination of its members. This hardcover pocket journal celebrates the iconic house with vibrant imagery and endpapers that display the beautiful concept art created for the films. A new take on Insight’s classic Harry Potter: Gryffindor Pocket Journal, this redesigned journal is the perfect accessory for Gryffindor fans everywhere.

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Book SynopsisOMG, I'm pregnant! What do I do now? Like most nineteen-year-olds, Deirdre Curley was thinking about boys, parties and independence. She was living in Glasgow, care-free and falling in love with her ideal guy. She didn't expect to find herself staring at the pink line on an at-home pregnancy test. But suddenly there she was: definitely pregnant and wondering what on earth she should do next. In this warm and witty memoir of falling in love and falling pregnant, between stories of heartache, growing up and taking the plunge into parenthood, you'll find all the information and resources you need to help you at each stage of your pregnancy, to make sure you're doing what's best for you and your baby. The trimester-by-trimester guide takes readers through Deirdre's own experience and provides practical advice about exactly what is happening to your body (and when), and what you should be doing to ensure you stay on the right track. Growing Up Pregnant is a must-have book for all first time mums no matter what stage in life you are at. From party time to nappy time, tan marks to stretch marks, sanitary pads to breast pads, romantic dates to play dates, prosseco bottles to baby bottles – this book will give you the knowledge and tools you need to survive the changes your body and life goes through during pregnancy whilst also empowering you with the confidence to enjoy your own journey into motherhood.

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Book SynopsisFrom language and clothes, to toys and the media, society inflicts unwritten rules on each gender from birth. Aiming to make people aware of the way gender is constructed and constantly reinforced, this diary chronicles the differences two parents noticed while raising their son and daughter.Adapted from tweets and blogs the couple kept throughout parenthood, this collection shows how culture, family and even the authors themselves are part of the 'gender police' that can influence a child's identity, and offers ideas for how we can work together to challenge the gender stereotypes that are ingrained in our society.Trade ReviewOne daughter. One son. Two different worlds. This book is a fascinating insight in how gender inequality is embedded in our society from the earliest years of a child's life. -- Jo Swinson, former Lib Dem Equalities MinisterAn eye-opening account of the little things that cumulatively make a big difference to the way boys and girls are raised. Fascinating, shocking and full of useful tips on how to fight back against the 'gender police'. Every parent should read it. -- Rebecca Asher, author of Shattered and Man UpAn arresting account of the way casual everyday comments about children reflect and reinforce gender stereotypes. We recommend this book at least once a week - it explains why we campaign. -- Let Toys Be ToysPerceptive, practical and powerful. -- Cordelia Fine, Professor at the University of Melbourne and the author of Delusions of gender: The real science behind sex differences and Testosterone Rex: Unmaking the myths of our gendered minds.Table of ContentsForeword; Preface; The Diary; The Blogs; Books: The princess and taking the pee; Film: A league of their own; Sport: I can't tonight I'm washing my hair; School: Never too young to learn; Language: Are you a people person?; Christmas: Presents of mind; The Dad diaries; Afterword; Appendix I: A Playful Day podcast transcript; Appendix II: Reading list for kids age 0-14; Appendix III: Film list for kids age 0-14; References

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Book SynopsisHow to live a full and rewarding life after a dementia diagnosis.Keith Oliver was diagnosed with young onset dementia at the age of 55. Unaware at the time that dementia could affect people of this age, Keith set out to increase public awareness of the condition and dispel the myths about the illness.Using a unique diary format, this intimate and empowering memoir captures what everyday life with dementia is like, offering both a candid look at its struggles, and a profoundly moving account of Keith's journey to live a full life afterwards.Trade ReviewA candid, moving account from a courageous man - this book gives thoughtful and at times heart-breaking insight into living with dementia. -- Victoria Derbyshire, award-winning journalist and broadcaster

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Book SynopsisIn May 1978 Harold Pinter and Antonia Fraser visited Israel at the time of the 30th Anniversary of Independence. It was three years after they first lived together; neither had set foot in Israel before. Based in Jerusalem, they toured many of the country’s historic sites: from Bethlehem to the fortress of Masada, encountering future Prime Minister Shimon Peres, Mayor of Jerusalem Teddy Kollek, Jackie Kennedy and a long-lost cousin of Harold’s on a kibbutz. It was a trip during which Pinter’s feelings about his heritage emerged for the first time. As he said himself: ‘For the first time I feel Jewish’. This diary was kept daily by Antonia Fraser: the vivid narrative and descriptions (Antonia swimming in the Dead Sea while Harold had a beer) are leavened with humour, occasionally wry where Harold’s quirks were concerned, and always tender. Above all, it is a unique picture of a time and place – and a touching insight into fifteen days in the lives of two writers, one Jewish, one Catholic, one a playwright and one a biographer, who were also a devoted couple.Trade Review‘A compelling mixture of charm, humour and wisdom.’ * TLS *‘A little gem of a book that offers a snapshot of Israel 30 years after independence; sharp insights into a range of characters from Shimon Peres to Jackie Kennedy.’ * Jewish Chronicle *‘Engaging…above all an interesting account of a time and a place.’ * Financial Times *‘Wise and witty…Fraser’s personality shines through here: ever curious, good-natured, with an ear for memorable one-liners.’ * Observer *‘Rather fun…unguarded, unpolished and often quite funny.’ * Telegraph *‘...a fabulous book...[Antonia Fraser is] a natural-born conjuror of lost realities... Exemplary, unparalleled, and peerless.’ -- Sebastian Barry

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Book SynopsisIn 1847, seventeen-year-old Miss Ellen Palmer had the world at her feet. A debutante at the start of her first London season, Ellen was beautiful, rich and accomplished and about to experience the world of dances, opera visits and dinner parties which were a rite-of-passage for young women of her class. To record the glittering whirl of activity, Ellen started writing a diary, a unique daily account which was discovered over a century later by her descendants. For Ellen, the path to true love did not run smooth - after a scandalous encounter with a duplicitous Swedish count, her marriage prospects were dealt a heavy blow. But Ellen was a woman ahead of her time. Undeterred by her increasing social isolation, she set off on a treacherous trip across Europe in pursuit of her beloved brother Roger, an officer in the Crimean War. In doing so she became one of the first women to visit the battlefield at Balaclava. Ellen's diaries provide a first-hand account of the realities of debutante life in Victorian London whilst also telling the story of an inspirational young woman, her quest for love and her spectacular journey from the ballroom to the battlefield.Table of ContentsIntroduction A Strange Family The Grand Tour Preparing for the London Season The London Season Country Life in Ireland A Fatal Attraction A Bleak and Cheerless Future Heartbreak Music her Only Solace Joy and Despair A Parting of the Ways To Constantinople The Crimea – So Near and yet so Far Balaclava Love at Last Epilogue

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Book SynopsisA powerful and authoritative selection of critical essays and reviews by poet Padraic Fallon. Skilfully compiled and edited by his son Brian Fallon, this book is published to mark the centenary of his father’s birth, and testifies to the enduring value of literature in the flux of the twenty-first century. Padraic Fallon (1905 – 1974), one of the foremost Irish poets of his generation and a prolific writer of radio plays, was also an active essay-reviewer in the leading periodicals of his day. His literary criticism was incisive and witty, his erudition lightly worn. Disinterred from old files of The Bell, The Dublin Magazine and The Irish Times, his work remains fresh and readable decades on. Fallon writes authoritatively about the key figures of the Literary Revival: Gregory, Yeats, Stephans, Synge, Shaw and O’Casey – he knew many of them – and also of his contemporaries F.R. Higgins and Austin Clarke, with whom he shared a dedicated engagement with the Irish tradition. He comines frank judgements of Eliot, Pound, Graves, Auden, Gunn, Lowell, Larkin, Kinsella and others with fascinating detours into an East Galway childhood and the folk memories of Antony Raftery. The book is built around a core of previously uncollected work, beginning with the controversial, highly influential ‘Poet’s Journal’ (The Bell, 1951-2) and closing with the wide-ranging ‘Verse Chronicles’ (Dublin Magazine, 1956-8).

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Book SynopsisErnie O’Malley was a revolutionary republican and writer. One of the leading figures in the Irish independence and civil wars, he survived wounds, imprisonment and hunger strike, before going to the USA in 1928 to fundraise on de Valera’s behalf. Broken Landscapes tells of his subsequent journeys, through Europe and the Americas, where O’Malley moved in wide social circles that included Paul Strand, Edward Weston, Hart Crane and Jack B. Yeats. Back in Mayo he took up farming. In 1935 he married Helen Hooker, an American heiress, with whom he had three children, Cathal, Etain and Cormac, before a bitter separation. His literary reputation was established with a magnificent memoir, On Another Man’s Wound (1936). In later years he was close to John Ford, and worked on The Quiet Man (1952). This vibrant new collection of letters, diaries and fragments opens up the broad panorama of his life to readers. It enriches the history of Ireland’s troubled independence with reflections on loss and reconciliation. It links the old world to the new – O’Malley perched on the edge of the Atlantic, a folklore collector, art critic and radio broadcaster; autodidact, modernist and intellectual. It conducts a unique conversation with the past. In Broken Landscapes, we travel with O’Malley through Italy, the American Southwest, Mexico and points inbetween. In Taos, he mingled wiht the artistic set around D. H. Lawrence. In Ireland, he drank with Patrick Kavanagh, Liam O’Flaherty and Louis MacNiece. The young painter Louis le Brocquy was his guest on his farm in Burrishoole, Co. Mayo. These places and people remained with O’Malley in his private writing, assembled for the first time from family and institutional archives. Reading these letters, dairies and fragments is to see Ireland in the tumultuous world of the twentieth century, as if for the first time, allowing us to view the intellectual foundations of the State through the eyes of its leading chronicler.

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Book SynopsisJustin Keating, son of the artist Sean Keating, attended UCD and TCD. He was a Labour Party politician (Minister for Industry 1973-77), academic, journalist, veterinary surgeon, television pioneer (as Head of Agricultural Broadcasting at RTE) and award-winning documentary filmmaker. In later life he served as Member of the European Parliament and became president of the Humanist Association. President Michael D. Higgins called him ‘a man who saw socialism as both essential and adaptable to change’. Keating introduced the first substantial legislation for the development of Ireland's oil and gas, set up the National Film Studios of Ireland at Ardmore and gave impetus to Kilkenny Design. He wrote extensively – and with opinions well ahead of his time – on the natural world, including women’s health, animal welfare, sustainable energy and ecology. ‘A well made, fit thoroughbred really striding out seems to me one of the most beautiful things on earth, on a par with an orchid or porpoise.’ Edited posthumously by his wife, Barbara Hussey, Justin Keating’s notebooks offer an in-depth, often-impassioned account of the interests, musings and opinions of one of Ireland’s most wide-ranging intellectuals. His dealings with J.D Bernal, Noël Browne, Sean McBride, Charles Haughey, Gerry Fitt and Conor Cruise-O’Brien, form part of this absorbing chronicle, aside from myriad friendships with writers and artists. Nothing Is Written in Stone is a brilliant selfportrait of this multi-dimensional man, who did so much to shape twenty-first century Ireland.Trade ReviewThe work is a personal testimony. -- Barry Sheppard * The Irish Story *That [Justin Keating] remained willing to change is clear from this illuminating chronicle of a singular and fulfilling life. Barbara Hussey edited these extracts from her husband’s notebooks with the astute collaboration of Anna Kealy. Together they have succeeded, as John Boorman writes in his affectionate preface, in giving Justin a voice beyond the grave. -- Alex White * The Irish Times *Absorbing tale reliving a political odyssey. -- Deirdre Conroy * The Independent *Table of ContentsAcorns to Oaks- On Education; The Godless Institution- On Marxism; Snake and Ladders- Women Religion and Sexuality; Genesis Vs Gaia- Care of the Earth; Ireland's Future- Entering Irish Politics; Doubt is the Mother of Wisdom- Zionism; The Future of the Left- Globalization and Democracy; Loves, Loss and Leavetaking.

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Book SynopsisRise above!: Letters from Tyrone Guthrie details the life of the celebrated theatrical director whose influence on international theatre lives on. Here, in a stunning volume of letters, we are offered a glimpse into the vision of this extraordinary figure as well as a view of the intimacies of his relationships with his mother, sister, wife and friends. During the 1940s and 1950s Guthrie was renowned for liberating the plays of Shakespeare from declamatory delivery and excessive staging. His most enduring legacy was in inspiring the creation of modern theatre buildings where the plays of antiquity could be brought closer to the audience, such as at Stratford, Canada, and the theatre that bears his name in Minneapolis, USA. Of Scots-Irish parentage, he identified most closely with his mother’s home at Annaghmakerrig, Co. Monaghan, which he made his professional headquarters after her death, hosting producers, designers, playwrights and composers there while planning worldwide productions. Guthrie’s letters to his mother, Norah, his wife, Judith, and his sister, Peggy, give a balanced account of his professional and domestic life, and it was on the advice of his sister and her husband, Hubert Butler, that he left his mother’s house to the Irish nation as a workplace for writers and artists. Faced with often seemingly insurmountable financial and personal disaster, his celebrated mantra ‘Rise above!’ was testament to a life lived in the wings of an operatic opening night or a Shakespearean tragedy. Guthrie’s vivid descriptions of places visited are matched by the observational skills of his remarks on the people he worked with, among them well-known figures such as Benjamin Britten, Alec Guinness, Charles Laughton, Siobhán McKenna, Micheál MacLíammóir, the Oliviers and others. Family members come in for as many amused comments as do the famous and distinguished: Cousin Molly is no more spared than Sir Winston Churchill. Fitz-Simon has gathered an important, and entrancing, collection of Tyrone Guthrie’s letters, raising a curtain on the life of Ireland’s leading theatre director of the twentieth-centuryTrade ReviewAn admirable collection. -- Fintan O'Toole * The Irish Times *Fitz-Simon has gathered an important, and entrancing, collection of TyroneGuthrie’s letters, raising a curtain on the life of Ireland’s leading theatre director of thetwentieth-century. * Writing.ie *

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Book SynopsisArthur O'Connor was the most important conduit between French republicanism and Irish political radicalism in the late 1790s … His State of Ireland, published in 1798, created a distinctively Irish language of radical democracy out of French sources, by fusing them with the local political tradition and Scottish political economy.' So writes editor James Livesey in his introduction to this new edition of The State of Ireland, first published in pamphlet form in 1798 by Arthur O'Connor, a prominent member of the United Irishmen. O'Connor brought to the revolutionary movement of the 1790s a mind honed on the ideas of Adam Smith – ideas that might not seem revolutionary today, but that had radical implications as adapted by O'Connor and applied to the bizarre political economy of eighteenth-century Ireland. As perhaps the most steadfastly anti-sectarian member of the United Irish movement, O'Connor viewed the vexed debates over 'Protestant liberty' and Catholic Emancipation as distractions from the fundamental questions of political and economic reform; he supported emancipation as a necessary but by no means sufficient element of a free, democratic Irish society. 'What O'Connor's work reveals to us', Livesey writes, 'is the breadth of vision within the United Irishmen and the novelty of their intervention in Irish political culture … O'Connor's text deserves to find a place in the canon of classic political texts that have constructed and made possible, or even imaginable, Irish democracy.'

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Book SynopsisThis is a writer’s journal of his friendships, encounters and observations during the 1950s and 60s, describing relationships with Cork author Frank O’Connor, Patrick Kavanagh, Charles Cape (onetime governor of Strangeways Prison) and the remarkable Margaret Radford, baglady and acquaintance of Shaw, Lawrence and Ford Madox Ford, with her vivid experiences of the Great War. Peopled by the colourful characters met in his profession, Naughton also gives an intimate portrait of a marriage and the onset of death as he survives a coronary thrombosis. Limpid, candid and tellingly written, it delineates the struggles and triumphs of a migrant Irish writer living in the English provinces, with sharp insights into human behaviour.

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Book SynopsisThis memoir is by and about George Taylor: the manuscript was handed down through generations of his family. It recalls the varied and interesting life of a man who, at the age of 50, moved his family from Kelso in the Scottish Borders to Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the mid-nineteenth century. George Taylor was a gardener and nurseryman and, when settled in Kalamazoo, he soon established a successful business supplying plants and hedging. He was an award-winning horticulturalist and was responsible for the introduction of the cultivation of celery to the USA. In the course of hearing about George Taylor's life - including the death of three of his four wives in childbirth - we encounter people such as the widow of the man who supposedly served as the inspiration for Robert Burns' "Tam o' Shanter", and events such as the Great Fire of Chicago. From Kelso to Kalamazoo is all too rare a primary source testament to the realities of emigration from the lowlands of Scotland to the USA.Trade Review'The memoirs provide a fascinating insight to life in the nineteenth century. ... His story is an unusually positive Victorian tale, with the added bonus of being 'true'. National Archives of Scotland ' ... a valuable insight into daily life in a neglected region of Scotland and a burgeoning town of the American mid-west.' Marjory Harper in Review of Scottish CultureTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Editorial Notes List of Illustrations Introduction by David Forsyth FROM KELSO TO KALAMAZOO 1 Early life 2 Working life and marriage 3 Travel and temperance 4 To America 5 Life in Michigan and visits to Scotland Notes Glossary Family tree Index

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Book SynopsisDoreen Ingrams and her husband were the first Europeans ever to live in the Hadhramaut, an extraordinary, isolated region of southern Arabia. Married to an Arabic-speaking British official, she arrived by boat, and during their ten-year residency travelled throughout the region by camel and donkey. Doreen kept a diary in which she detailed their adventures and described her unequalled access to the domestic quarters, to the women and children, the food, the scents, secrets, jewels and privileges of this extraordinarily rich traditional society. "A Time in Arabia" is a precious document - part history, part time-travel, seen through the eyes of a decent, modest and compassionate woman.

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Book SynopsisIan Hamilton Finlay (1925-2006) was one of Scotland's leading twentieth century public intellectuals, and famously one of its most brilliant and combative correspondents. His letters raise issues of particular and widespread interest both within Scotland and further afield. His correspondence with Stephen Bann, the English poet and academic have a very special place in this context. These letters present in a clear and commensurable form the development of his ideas about poetry and art, and increasingly about sculpture and gardening, over this critical five year period of his creative life.Trade Review"The Scottish concrete poet, visual artist, short story writer, aphorist, editor, and 'avant-gardener' Ian Hamilton Finlay is one of the great polymaths of our time. His writings alone would put him in the pantheon of twentieth century poets." --Marjorie Perloff, author of The Futurist Moment and Unoriginal Genius: Poetry by other means in the 21st Century

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Book SynopsisThese letters to (and from) Finlay's friend, the English poet and scholar, Stephen Bann, centre on the initial development of the garden at Stonypath, near Edinburgh, later to become the world renowned 'Little Sparta'. They cover Finlay's turn away from poetry towards sculpture and garden design, and the thinking behind, and consequences of, this development. This book, edited, introduced and annotated by Bann himself as was Midway, its companion volume of letters, completes the portrait of the man who is now recognized not only as a great poet, but also as a major artist and one of the most original garden designers of modern times."...Bann's superb two volume set of Finlay's correspondence...These handsomely printed volumes, amply footnoted, with biographical and historical commentary leading readers up and down the stony path, are an extended conversation with one of twentieth-century Britain's most unexpected artists." -Times Literary Supplement Read the full review here

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Book SynopsisThis is a love story from start to finish, Irene and Rachael's. Based on the diaries of Rachael Dixey who looked after her civil partner Irene after she developed early onset Alzheimer's disease, the book opens with the lines: Irene, Alzheimer's and me - Alzheimer's came between us. It does that, drives you and the love of your life apart, going your separate ways because you cannot follow. That's the story really, that's it. The end. But it is also the beginning of the story, which shows how life can still be lived despite losing a life partner to dementia, and how to cope emotionally and practically with a disease that robs you of your loved one a thousand times before they die. The story charts the daily decline and inexorable loss of Irene to dementia. With the dramatic deterioration in Irene's health Rachael turns from lover and soul mate to career and, finally, single woman. Eventually, no longer able to cope with Irene at home, she makes the agonizing decision to allow Irene to be put in a care home. There she spent her last six years. When she died aged 66, the couple had spent half their life together.This book is a powerful and moving account of the progression of dementia, and raises serious questions about how our society cares for those who develop the disease, especially at a young age and in the gay, lesbian community. It also deals with loss and grief, during the illness and afterwards. Their memoir will be invaluable for anyone affected by dementia, those working in mental health and those caring for a loved one with a life-changing and incurable illness. Our Dementia Diary tells with brutal honesty of love, loss and life with Alzheimer's and opens up discussion of how dementia can be handled better."

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Book SynopsisIn 2014, a self-proclaimed 'relatively normal 50-year-old, overweight desk-jockey', took on the monumental task of attempting a 5,000-mile walk around the coast of mainland Britain in the name of two worthy charities.Developed and adapted from his award-winning blog, this is a journal documenting the highs and lows of his 42-week hike around Britain with only the support of his friends, family, the odd stranger or two and a trusty second-hand motorhome as a roving base camp. Peter Hill, the man behind the whimsical idea, never viewed the trek as a voyage of personal discovery and instead takes the reader on a truthful blisters-and-all journey with friendly enthusiasm, gentle humour, numerous trials, a few grumbles, the odd rant and many, many ice-creams. With added extracts from a driver's diary and fully illustrated with a selection of spectacular photographs, this book is only readable with a smile.

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Book SynopsisBehind every good farmer is a great farmer's wife though the farmer in question may not always appreciate this! Having been married to John for over 30 years, Bobbi Mothersdale knows this more than anyone. Through her diary, Bobbi gives a wry, comical and yet realistic account of life on their East Yorkshire farm. Over the course of the year, we meet her friends and family as well as the three dogs, numerous hens and crafty guinea fowl that play such a big part in their daily routine. Like any farming family they have good days mixed with bad and have to deal with adverse weather, bureaucratic challenges and uncooperative livestock. Bobbi's accounts of her irate farming husband thwarted once again by the gods of rain or a petulant sheep will be instantly recognisable to anyone who has ever worked on a farm and on many an occasion you will find yourself laughing out loud at her description of the situations she finds herself in.Illustrated with 24 beautiful sketches by Jacquie Sinclair, Bobbi's dry and witty way with words can not fail to amuse and endear you. If you are a farmer's wife, you will find this an unputdownable must-read that you will want to share with all your friends.Though be warned - you might need to prise it away from your husband and his friends first. ..

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Book SynopsisThe diaries of Dr Kathleen Lynn, 1916-1955, cover her involvement in the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence, the Civil War, and the formative three and a half decades of the Irish Free State. They demonstrate the revolutionary, socialist and feminist fervour of a radical revolutionary woman, what motivated her and the work she did for women, workers, and Ireland. The diaries, held in the archives of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI), reveal the often-difficult road that radical political women forged in the new Irish Free State, which viewed women through the constraining lens of marriage, motherhood, and domesticity. The diaries are also revealing of the supportive networks of political women, who worked together for social and political change. Central to the diaries is Lynn's vital work in St Ultan's Hospital for Sick Infants which she co-founded in 1919. Her diaries demonstrate vividly the number of women who led advances in medical care in the first decades of the State alongside Lynn. The diaries also record her family and personal relationships, especially her lifelong relationship with fellow suffragist, revolutionary and social campaigner, Madeline ffrench-Mullen. Few political women of the revolutionary era and Irish Free State have left behind as substantial an archive as Dr Kathleen Lynn. The publication of these selected extracts from her diaries are a move to readdress issues created by past archival practices which have, in many cases, marginalised or silenced the voices of women. The diaries add not only to our knowledge of the life of Dr Lynn but also to the histories of female activists, female networks, and intimate female lives in the Irish State during its formative decades. Edited by Mary McAuliffe and Harriet Wheelock with a foreword by Emma Donoghue.Trade Review'Lynn’s diaries are among the few eyewitness sources we have for a radical, revolutionary, socialist, and republican woman.'- RTÉ Brainstorm, 13 Nov 2023.; ‘Casts new light on many of the political and social concerns of three decades of Irish life. This volume is a significant addition to Irish history. For me, though, The Diaries of Kathleen Lynn is a book about the human condition and how love sustains us.’; - Clodagh Finn, Irish Examiner, 11 Nov 2023.; ‘Through a careful selection of excerpts from Lynn’s extensive personal diaries, which commence in 1916 and continue almost daily until her death in 1955, The Diaries of Kathleen Lynn: A Life Revealed through Personal Writing provides an extraordinarily close insight into Lynn’s social, private and political life, and her relationship with many of the key political figures of Ireland in the first half of the 20th century.’ - Connaught Telegraph, 4 Oct 2023.; ‘Alive & throbbing, indeed, as long as breath was in her, and the world was better for the marks she left on it, which is only one reason why the long-overdue publication of a selection of Kathleen Lynn journals is a cause for what she would have called a loud hip hip DG.’ – Emma Donoghue, Irish Examiner, 16 Oct 2023.; ‘The diaries demonstrate the revolutionary, socialist and feminist fervour of a radical revolutionary woman, what motivated her and the work she did for women, workers, and Ireland.’ - Monmouthshire Beacon, November 2023.

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Book SynopsisFirst published in Irish in 1937, this collection of journal and diary entries is a compelling first-hand account of Douglas Hyde's eight-month fundraising odyssey through the United States from 1905 to 1906. Published for the first time in a bilingual edition, complete with newly discovered archival material and extensive illustrations, this book navigates Hyde's thoughts on his journey in their original Irish, accompanied by a faithful English translation Hyde's work on this tour, undertaken on behalf of the Gaelic League, was both culturally and politically vital. The finance he raised contributed to the hiring and training of Irish-language teachers and organisers who travelled across Ireland spreading the Gaelic League message. These funds sustained the cultural revolution, which, in turn, gave rise to the political uprising from which Irish sovereignty would ultimately flow. This collection is beautifully designed and colour illustrated with a wide selection of original images and hand-written postcards. With an introduction by President Michael D. Higgins, and punctuated with entertaining pen pictures of prominent figures in US history (including President Theodore Roosevelt), this study recounts an important part in the life of one of Ireland's most under-appreciated leaders and captures an Ireland on the very brink of seismic change.Trade Review'This book seeks to address this paucity, and does so in an outstanding fashion. It recounts an important period in Douglas Hyde's life when he was at the pinnacle of his powers and captures an Ireland on the cusp of change, while bring Hyde's contributions to the revival and to the making of modern Ireland to a new audience.' Review by Bobbie Nolan, Studia Hibernica No. 48, 2022; 'Douglas Hyde's My American Journey is both a beautiful book and a profoundly important one ... My American Journey should take an honored place on the shelves of those interested in the connections between Ireland and Irish-America, and especially those with an interest in the Gaelic Revival and its distinct manifestation in the US as contrasted with (and in relationship to) its home base in Ireland. Most important, it will become a landmark in the burgeoning research lifting Douglas Hyde to the place he deserves in the historical consciousness'. Irish Literary Supplement, Spring 2021 ||| 'By the turn of the century, there were some 600 Gaelic League branches all over Ireland and up to 250,000 people taking language lessons. Hyde's league was reviving not just their heritage but their self-determination. This invaluable book gives you an insight into what drove him and how his efforts resonated across continents.' Cahir O'Doherty, Irish Central, December 2019. ||| 'Now UCD Press has produced this sumptuous edition of Hyde's My American Journey ... The present volume comprises the full Irish text and an English translation of it, and there is a fine introduction by Liam Mac Mathuna, professor emeritus of Irish at UCD.' Felix Larkin, Irish Catholic, January 2020Table of ContentsAcknowledgements IX List of Illustrations XI Maps XVI Foreword XXI Introduction XXIII MY AMERICAN JOURNEY 3 MO THURAS GO MEIRICEA 163 Notes 317 Index 346 Inneacs 354

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Book SynopsisThrough a collection of letters written to his best friend and to his father in England, and from his own personal diary entries, John Dodds memoir offers a fascinating, and amusing, glimpse of life as a colonial rubber planter. With true stories and confessions that would make even Somerset Maugham blush.

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Book SynopsisNEW EDITION IN PAPERBACK to coincide with a new project to unveil a statue of the author in Richmond on Thames in 2022 "I ought to be grateful to Richmond & Hogarth, and indeed, whether it's my invincible optimism or not, I am grateful." - Virginia Woolf Although more commonly associated with Bloomsbury, Virginia and her husband Leonard Woolf lived in Richmond-upon-Thames for ten years from the time of the First World War (1914-1924). Refuting the common misconception that she disliked the town, this book explores her daily habits as well as her intimate thoughts while living at the pretty house she came to love - Hogarth House. Drawing on information from her many letters and diaries, as well as Leonard's autobiography, the editor reveals how Richmond's relaxed way of life came to influence the writer, from her experimentation as a novelist to her work with her husband and the Hogarth Press, from her relationships with her servants to her many famous visitors.Trade Reviewnb. (nbmagazine.co.uk) A room for two: how a new generation of women writers are seeking inspiration from Virginia Woolf - Prospect Magazine Biography - finding a new angle SkyLightRain Book Review -- Virginia Woolf in Richmond Evilcyclist's Bookshelf (wordpress.com) Review: Virginia Woolf in Richmond, by Peter Fullagar - The Modernist Review (wordpress.com) The Woolf pack - TLS (the-tls.co.uk) Virginia Woolf in Richmond - Peter Fullagar - The Last Word Book Review Virginia Woolf in Richmond launches today Blogging Woolf " ...It is clear that Woolf's life and work (and hence the books that so many of us love) would have been very different if she had not lived there." --Joseph Ludlow for NB Magazine " features an intriguing collection of Virginia Woolf's thoughts and musings on daily life, work, and rest, revealed in evocative excerpts from Virginia's diaries and letters, written between 1914 and 1924. These are complemented by Fullagar's narrative commentary, which is crisp and informative." --The Modernist Review "Fullagar's book reveals what life was like during the First World War for the Woolfs... [it's] an unusual addition to the Woolf library, however, published in association with the campaign to erect a life-sized sculpture of Woolf on the riverside. Book and statue together should help maintain awareness of the valuable literary legacy that Woolf left behind." --TLS "Lively, diverse and readable, this book captures beautifully Virginia Woolf's time in leafy Richmond, her mixed emotions over this exile from central London, and its influence on her life and work. This illuminating book is a valuable addition to literary history, and a must read for every Virginia Woolf enthusiast..." --Emma Woolf, writer, journalist, presenter and Virginia Woolf's great niece

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Book Synopsis‘There have been many amazing projects to help people during the pandemic and Paperchains is one of the very best.’ Queen CamillaAn anthology of 30 stories of lockdown, from people with experience of prison, homelessness, addiction, and families of people in the armed forces.When the history of the Covid-19 lockdowns is written, who will be the storytellers and of whose lives will they tell? Will they tell of the prisoners spending 23+ hours each day locked in a cell, inhaling and exhaling, over and over again, the same recycled air? For months on end. With no visitors? Will they tell of those addicts who were just starting to recover and rebuild, only to find themselves back on the edge? Or the people down your street who had nowhere to live, or those whose house was never really a home? What about the families of service personnel, or young people stuck at home?These are experiences from inside the storm. From people whose stories are rarely heard. This anthology includes works of prose, poetry, drama, and art. Powerful, often irreverent, heartfelt: voices that history cannot forget. A chain of words, poetry and art that binds us all together. A chain that will survive beyond this turbulent time and stand as a testament of who we were during it.

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Book SynopsisMany a loft is full of family memorabilia, but Bryony Hill’s collection is extraordinary. Packed to the rafters with photographs and historical documents, Bryony Hill has finally achieved her dream of studying those precious albums to reveal a record of her British family who left the Highlands for India during the reign of George III, continuing through to the reign of Queen Victoria, the high noon of the Raj. In Scotland to Shalimar – a Family’s Life in India you’ll find family portraits dating back to the 18th century, her ancestor’s watercolour images and precious sketches that mingle amongst favourite family recipes, stories of courage, riddles and rhymes – all collected through the generations. This well-researched, fascinating book creates a vivid and unique portrait of life at different stages in the ever-fascinating history of the British and their on-going relationship with India.Trade Review‘This is a charming book, which captures a side of our history seldom remembered; stoicism and invention in India before the dawn of the Raj, delight in the flowers and landscape, filling time during long days in a foreign land newly under British rule, and a sense of cheerful duty when confronted with the unexpected…Completely enchanting’; Joanna Lumley OBE FRGS

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Book SynopsisDated the 14th of December 1908, A Letter to a Hindu was a letter written by Leo Tolstoy to Tarak Nath Das, a Bengali revolutionary and scholar, in response to a request for support for India’s separation from British rule, which argued that the Indian people should seek to free themselves from British rule through non-violent protests and strikes, and other forms of peaceful resistance. The letter soon gained international attention after it was published in the Free Hindustan, and it came to the attention of the young Mahatma Gandhi. Drawing on a variety of sources, cultures and teachings, Tolstoy’s letter was instrumental in forming Gandhi’s views on non-violent resistance – as Gandhi himself acknowledges in his introduction: ‘To me, as a humble follower of that great teacher whom I have long looked upon as one of my guides, it is a matter of honour to be connected with the publication of his letter’.Trade Review'One of the clearest thinkers in the western world, one of the greatest writers.' (Mahatma Gandhi) 'He is never dull, never stupid, never tired, never pedantic, never theatrical!' (James Joyce) 'The greatest of all novelists.' (Virginia Woolf) 'What he does serves to justify all the hopes and aspirations invested in literature.' (Anton Chekhov) 'What an artist and what a psychologist!' (Gustave Flaubert)Table of ContentsIntroduction, A Letter to a Hindu, Note on the Text, Notes, Extra Material: A Brief Introduction to Leo Tolstoy, A Wider View of the Conversation

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Book SynopsisThis book is a truthful, honest and fascinating account of being quarantined on the cruise ship Diamond Princess. It was the first cruise ship to be hit by Covid-19. This was the first major event of the coronavirus outbreak. The story draws heavily on a detailed diary kept by the author and includes the lead up to the holiday of a lifetime. It shares what it felt like being confined for 19 days in a small cabin room with no balcony or window, and the challenges that followed. After being repatriated from Japan to the Wirral in Liverpool, and enduring another quarantine, the author finally makes it back home.

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Book Synopsis'The author's home town is falling apart. Lebanon's capital [...] has morphed into a symbol of devastation and hatred and madness. Majdalani is a survivor who still finds in himself the elegance to smile and hope' Amin Maalouf, Prix Goncourt winner'It is rare to capture the moment when it first occurs, in real time, with these seemingly humble details that describe the instant in all its depth' Alexandra Schwartzbrod, Libération'A short narrative that strikes straight at the heart' Gaëtane Morin, Le ParisienWhen Charif Majdalani begins to walk the streets of his city, and to write down what he sees, the first hints of unrest within a vibrant culture creep to the fore. Majdalani's reportage through the months of 2020 bears witness to the ways in which an ancient civilization slowly, then rapidly, descends into the abyss: corruption and vice infect the corridors of power; currency plummets into freefall, rats scurry between piles of rotting rubbish that grow higher along the pavements. Born from the rancour of existential pestilence, violence erupts and Beirut's citizens find themselves in high-voltage stand-offs with law enforcement.Then, the unexpected, Beirut collapses under the explosive force of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate. The blast kills hundreds and injures thousands. But through the rubble and the sirens, a people finds its strength to survive and its heart to unite. The city becomes the metaphor for each of our cultural capitals throughout the world.Trade Review'The author's home town is falling apart. Lebanon's capital [...] morphed into a symbol of devastation and hatred and madness. Majdalani is a survivor who still finds in himself the elegance to smile and hope' -- Amin Maalouf, Prix Goncourt winner'Powerful and original ... If much of the book's emotional power is channelled through its coverage of daily life in 2020, its analytical force is found in the broader themes it considers' * Spectator *'It is rare to capture the moment when it first occurs, in real time, with these seemingly humble details that describe the instant in all its depth' -- Alexandra Schwartzbrod, Libération'A short narrative that strikes straight at the heart' -- Gaëtane Morin, Le Parisien

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