Description
Book SynopsisPatience Darton's unpublished letters and papers from 1930s Spain and 1950s China are at the heart of this new biography by Angela Jackson, together with testimony from recorded interviews and a wealth of photographs that illustrate the life of this remarkable woman. 'For us it was Heaven' tells the story of a young, upper middle-class nurse in the 1930s who becomes dramatically caught up in Spain's civil war and the passionate political issues of her times, but whose intimate writings reveal emotions and attitudes that will strike a chord with most self-aware and determined women today. While Patience nursed near the front lines in Spain, she met and fell in love with Robert, a German volunteer in the International Brigades, deeply committed to fighting fascism. Their passionate relationship coloured the rest of her long life, taking her to communist China and then, finally, back to Spain. Published in association with the Canada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies.
Trade Review"Ms Jackson describes the personalities, the medical treatments, the living conditions, the politics, and the conduct of everyday life with an immediacy which makes this biography such a readable and vivid portrayal of a war which it will help to keep alive in our memories, and the index and references make it also an important resource. Through interviews and letters, she paints an unforgettable picture of an intrepid, stubborn, indomitable character, a woman of great ability who might not have made a very comfortable friend or lover, but whose concern for others was a driving force throughout her life." - Nick Coni, The Royal Society of Medicine Newsletter, March 2012
This is a moving and illuminating book a wonderful, if extremely sad, love story, infused with selfless political dedication, it also provides a fascinating insight into English involvement with two key periods in countries which experienced major political upheaval and conflict during the 20th century: Spain, with its Civil War, and the International Brigades involvement; and newly-Communist China, with its idealistic foreign revolutionaries. - Books4Spain 2012
Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionPART ONE: BUILDING A FRAME OF REPRESENTATION1. The Press, the Personal and News Values2. Issues of Public and Private3. Unifying Key ThemesPART TWO: EXPLORING TRADITIONAL REPRESENTATION4. Histories of Homosexuality: Definition and Discrimination5. Private Lives, Public Consequences: Representation Pre-19806. Immoral Sexuality, Moralistic Press Coverage: Representation 19801990PART THREE: EXPLORING CONTEMPORARY REPRESENTATION7. Histories of Homosexuality: the (Slow) Advancement of Gay Equality8. Scurrilous Politicians, Scandalous Stories: Representation 199019979. Public Life, Public Pressures: Representation Post-1997ConclusionBibliographyIndex
