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Wolfram: The Boy Who Went to War
Par Giles Milton. 2011
Wolfram Aïchele was nine years old when Hitler came to power: his formative years were spent in the shadow of…
the Third Reich. He and his parents - free-thinking artists - were to have first hand experience of living under one of the most brutal regimes in history. Wolfram: The Boy Who Went to War overturns all the clichés about life under Hitler. It is a powerful story of warfare and human survival and a reminder that civilians on all sides suffered the consequences of Hitler's war. It is also an eloquent testimony to the fact that even in times of exceptional darkness there remains a brilliant spark of humanity that can never be totally extinguished.The Rebecca Notebook: and other memories (Vmc Ser. #665)
Par Daphne Du Maurier. 2013
By the bestselling author of RebeccaINTRODUCED BY ALISON LIGHTIn her own words, Daphne du Maurier reveals what led her to…
write Rebecca, one of the most beloved books of the twentieth century. This perfect companion volume, The Rebecca Notebook, outlines how Rebecca came to be written, tracing its origins, developments and the directions it might have taken. The author reveals how she first came upon the secret house hidden deep in Cornish woodland, that was to become the setting for her most famous novel: a house which stood derelict, and which she lovingly restored to create her own home - the inspiration for Manderley.Further memories introduce other members of her family: her father Gerald, the famous actor; her grandfather George, the Punch artist; and her cousins, for whom J. M. Barrie wrote Peter Pan.The Man Who Broke into Auschwitz: The Extraordinary True Story (Extraordinary Lives, Ext Ser.)
Par Denis Avey, Rob Broomby. 2011
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERTHE MAN WHO BROKE INTO AUSCHWITZ is the extraordinary true story of a British soldier who marched willingly…
into Buna-Monowitz, the concentration camp known as Auschwitz III.In the summer of 1944, Denis Avey was being held in a POW labour camp, E715, near Auschwitz III. He had heard of the brutality meted out to the prisoners there and he was determined to witness what he could. He hatched a plan to swap places with a Jewish inmate and smuggled himself into his sector of the camp. He spent the night there on two occasions and experienced at first-hand the cruelty of a place where slave workers, had been sentenced to death through labour. Astonishingly, he survived to witness the aftermath of the Death March where thousands of prisoners were murdered by the Nazis as the Soviet Army advanced. After his own long trek right across central Europe he was repatriated to Britain. For decades he couldn't bring himself to revisit the past, but now Denis Avey feels able to tell the full story - a tale as gripping as it is moving - which offers us a unique insight into the mind of an ordinary man whose moral and physical courage are almost beyond belief.Jeremy Thorpe
Par Michael Bloch. 2014
'A revealing, insightful and gripping biography of one of the most extraordinary people ever to lead a British political party'…
ObserverThe story of Jeremy Thorpe's rapid rise and spectacular fall from grace is one of the most remarkable in British politics. When he became leader of the Liberal Party in 1967 at the age of just thirty-seven, he seemed destined for truly great things. But as his star steadily rose so his nemesis drew ever nearer: a time-bomb in the form of Norman Scott, a homosexual wastrel and sometime male model with whom Jeremy had formed an ill-advised relationship in the early 1960s. Scott's incessant boasts about their 'affair' became increasingly embarrassing, and eventually led to a bizarre murder plot to shut him up for good. Jeremy was acquitted of involvement but his career was in ruins.Michael Bloch's magisterial biography is not just a brilliant retelling of this amazing story; ten years in the making, it is also the definitive character study of one of the most fascinating figures in post-war British politics.Ribbentrop
Par Michael Bloch. 2003
Hailed in turns as 'excellent', 'intelligent', 'scrupulously fair', 'remarkable', 'impressive', and 'definitive', this superb book, by one of the pre-eminent…
writers of his generation, focuses on the life of Joachim von Ribbentrop, Hitler's Foreign Minister from 1938 until the end of the Third Reich. At the heart of German power during the war, this strange, sinister and intriguing character was violently anti-British, and encouraged Hitler in a policy that led to war with Great Britain. His grandiose attempts at alliance-building produced a disastrous military coalition with Italy and Japan, and the infamous Pact with the Soviet Union. It was a career that would end on the gallows at Nuremberg, where he headed the death procession.Written with verve, pace and the subtle intelligence of a world-class biographer, Michael Bloch's universally praised book vividly portrays this bizarre and historically neglected figure.The Riviera Set: Glitz, Glamour, And The Hidden World Of High Society
Par Mary S. Lovell. 2016
'I loved every word' Sarra Manning, Red'[A] blissful book - it's like basking in the warm Med' Rachel Johnson, Mail…
on SundayThe Riviera Set is the story of the group of people who lived, partied, bed-hopped and politicked at the Château de l'Horizon near Cannes, over the course of forty years from the time when Coco Chanel made southern French tans fashionable in the twenties to the death of the playboy Prince Aly Khan in 1960. At the heart of this was the amazing Maxine Elliott, the daughter of a fisherman from Connecticut, who built the beautiful art deco Château and brought together the likes of Noel Coward, the Aga Khan, the Windsors and two very saucy courtesans, Doris Castlerosse and Daisy Fellowes, who set out to be dangerous distractions to Winston Churchill as he worked on his journalism and biographies during his 'wilderness years' in the thirties.After the War the story continued as the Château changed hands and Prince Aly Khan used it to entertain the Hollywood set, as well as launch his seduction of and eventual marriage to Rita Hayworth.Mary Lovell tells her story of high society behaviour with tremendous brio and relish, and this book has all the charm and fascination of her bestselling The Mitford Girls and The Churchills.Did She Kill Him?: A Victorian tale of deception, adultery and arsenic
Par Kate Colquhoun. 2014
In the summer of 1889, young Southern belle Florence Maybrick stood trial for the alleged arsenic poisoning of her much…
older husband, Liverpool cotton merchant James Maybrick. 'The Maybrick Mystery' had all the makings of a sensation: a pretty, flirtatious young girl; resentful, gossiping servants; rumours of gambling and debt; and torrid mutual infidelity. The case cracked the varnish of Victorian respectability, shocking and exciting the public in equal measure as they clambered to read the latest revelations of Florence's past and glimpse her likeness in Madame Tussaud's. Florence's fate was fiercely debated in the courtroom, on the front pages of the newspapers and in parlours and backyards across the country. Did she poison her husband? Was her previous infidelity proof of murderous intentions? Was James' own habit of self-medicating to blame for his demise? Historian Kate Colquhoun recounts an utterly absorbing tale of addiction, deception and adultery that keeps you asking to the very last page, did she kill him?The Infernal World Of Branwell Bronte (Vmc Ser. #664)
Par Daphne Du Maurier. 2013
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCAAs a bold and gifted child, Branwell Bronte's promise seemed boundless to the three adoring…
sisters over whom his rule was complete. But as an adult, the precocious flame of genius distorted and burned low.With neither the strength nor the resources to counter rejection, unable to sell his paintings or publish his books, Branwell became a spectre in the Bronte story, in pathetic contrast with the astonishing achievements of his sisters.Daphne du Maurier concentrates all her biographer's skill on the shadowy figure of Branwell Bronte, and no reader could fail to be intensely moved by Branwell's final retreat into laudanum, alcohol - and deathThe Winding Stair: Francis Bacon, His Rise and Fall (Vmc Ser. #670)
Par Daphne Du Maurier. 2013
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCAMany accounts of the life of Francis Bacon have been written for scholars. But du…
Maurier's aim in this biography was to illuminate the many facets of Bacon's remarkable personality for the common reader.To her book she brought the same gifts of imagination and perception that made her earlier biography, Golden Lads, so immensely readable, skilfully threading into her narrative extracts from contemporary documents and from Bacon's own writings, and setting her account of his life within a vivid contemporary framework.This is truly history made alive.Unlike many authors of popular historical biographies, du Maurier resembled Antonia Fraser in being an indefatigable researcher - Francis KingGerald: A Portrait (Vmc Ser. #654)
Par Daphne Du Maurier. 2013
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCASir Gerald du Maurier was the most celebrated actor-manager of his day, knighted for his…
services to the theatre in 1922, and the father to one of the most enduring writers of the twentieth century. Published within six months of her father's death, this frank biography was considered shocking by many of his admirers - but it was a huge success, winning Daphne du Maurier critical acclaim and launching her career.In Gerald: A Portrait, Daphne du Maurier captures the spirit and charm of the charismatic actor who played the original Captain Hook, amusingly recalling his eccentricities and his sense of humour, and sensitively portraying the darker side of his nature and his bouts of depression.A remarkable book . . . brilliant comic writing - The TimesIn prison you see only the moves of the enemy. Prison is the hardest place to fight a battle.'117 Days…
is Ruth First's personal account of her detention under the iniquitous '90-day' law of 1963. There was no warrant, no charge and no trial - only suspicion.This sparsely written and unique record tells of her experiences of solitary confinement, constant interrogation and instantaneous re-arrest on release - lightened by humorous portraits of governors, matrons, wardresses and interrogators, seen as the tools of the police state.The Du Mauriers (Vmc Ser. #662)
Par Daphne Du Maurier. 2013
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCAWhen Daphne du Maurier wrote this book she was only thirty years old and had…
already established herself both as a biographer, with the acclaimed Gerald: A Portrait, and as a novelist. Here, she further explores her fascinating family history.The Du Mauriers was written during a vintage period of her career, between two of her best-loved novels: Jamaica Inn and Rebecca.Her aim was to write her family biography 'so that it reads like a novel' and it was due to du Maurier's remarkable imaginative gifts that she was able to breathe life into the characters and depict with affection and wit the relatives she never knew, including her grandfather, the famous Victorian artist and Punch cartoonist - and creator of Trilby.'Miss du Maurier creates on the grand scale; she runs through the generations, giving her family unity and reality . . . a rich vein of humour and satire . . . observation, sympathy, courage, a sense of the romantic, are here' ObserverGolden Lads: A Study of Anthony Bacon, Francis and Their Friends (Vmc Ser. #655)
Par Daphne Du Maurier. 1975
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCA'A landmark book on a much-neglected figure, containing ground-breaking research . . . Vintage du…
Maurier - a page-turner, and a thundering good read!' Lisa JardineA fascinating historical figure, Anthony Bacon was a contemporary of the brilliant band of gallants who clustered round the court of Elizabeth I, and he was closely connected with the Queen's favourite, the Earl of Essex. He also worked as an agent for Sir Francis Walsingham, the Queen's spymaster, living in France where he became acquainted with Henri IV and the famous essayist Michel de Montaigne.It was in France that du Maurier discovered a secret that, if disclosed during Bacon's lifetime, could have put an end to his political career . . . Du Maurier did much to shed light on matters that had long puzzled historians, and, as well as a consummate exercise in research, this biography is also a strange and fascinating tale.Bess Of Hardwick: First Lady of Chatsworth
Par Mary S. Lovell. 2005
From the bestselling author of The Mitford Girls: A 'wonderfully researched' (Sunday Express) biography of Bess of Hartwick, the most…
powerful woman in England next to Queen Elizabeth Bringing 'the Tudor Age to exuberant life' (Hugh Massingberd, Mail on Sunday), Mary S. Lovell tells the story of Bess of Hardwick,, one of the most remarkable women of the Tudor era. Gently-born in reduced circumstances, she was married at 15 and when she was widowed at 16, she was still a virgin. At 19 she married a man more than twice her age, Sir William Cavendish, a senior auditor in King Henry VIII's Court of Augmentations. Responsible for seizing church properties for the crown during the Dissolution, Cavendish enriched himself in the process. During the reign of King Edward VI, Cavendish was the Treasurer to the boy king and sisters, and he and Bess moved in the highest levels of society. They had a London home and built Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. After Cavendish's death her third husband was poisoned by his brother. Bess' fourth marriage to the patrician George, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, Earl Marshall of England, made Bess one of the most important women at court. Her shrewd business acumen was a byword, and she was said to have 'a masculine understanding', in that age when women had little education and few legal rights. The Earl's death made her arguably the wealthiest, and therefore - next to the Queen - the most powerful woman in the country. 'This wonderfully researched book is an intimate portrait of [Bess's] life and a vivid insight into life in Tudor society' Sunday ExpressQueen Mother
Par Anthony Holden. 1985
Olivier
Par Anthony Holden. 1988
William Shakespeare: His Life and Work
Par Anthony Holden. 1999
Who was William Shakespeare? How did the 'rude groom' from Stratford grow up to be the greatest poet the world…
has known? Not for a generation, since the late Anthony Burgess's SHAKESPEARE (1970), has there been anything approaching a popular, mainstream biography of the greatest and most celebrated writer. Yet Shakespeare's life was as colourful, varied and dramatic as his works: the Warwickshire country boy who 'disappeared' for seven years before fetching up in London as an apprentice actor...whose fellow players could scarcely keep up with the plays he turned out for them...who rapidly became a favourite at the court of Elizabeth I...and returned to Stratford a prosperous 'gentleman', proud to realise his father's dream of a family coat of arms, before his death at 52.Anthony Holden brilliantly interleaves the poets own words with the known facts to breathe new life into a story never before told in such absorbing detail. 'The perfect blend of erudition and accessibility' - the Daily Telegraph's verdict on Holden's life of Tchaikovsky - applies equally to his revealing, very human portrait of Shakespeare.Elizabeth: Renaissance Prince
Par Lisa Hilton. 2015
A definitive portrait of one of the most compelling monarchs England has ever had: Elizabeth I.'We are a prince from…
a line of princes.'Lisa Hilton's majestic biography of Elizabeth I, 'The Virgin Queen', uses new research to present a fresh interpretation of Elizabeth as a queen who saw herself primarily as a Renaissance prince, delivering a very different perspective on her emotional and sexual life, and upon her attempts to mould England into a European state. Elizabeth was not an exceptional woman but an exceptional ruler, and this book challenges readers to reassess her reign, and the colourful drama, scandal and intrigue to which it is always linked.'The Lister diaries are the Dead Sea Scrolls of lesbian history; they changed everything. By resurrecting them and editing them…
with such loving attention and intelligence, Helena Whitbread has earned the gratitude of a whole generation' EMMA DONOGHUE'Engaging, revealing, at times simply astonishing: Anne Lister's diaries are an indispensable read' SARAH WATERSAnne Lister (1791-1840) was one of the most remarkable women of her time. Fearless and uncompromising, she wasdetermined to live life on her own terms, both financially and sexually. She wrote extensive diaries in 'crypthand', which allowed her to record her life in intimate, and sometimes explicit, detail. When they were decoded by Helena Whitbread, lesbian history was changed for ever. This is the second volume of her diaries.No Priest But Love begins in 1824. After an ill-fated love affair with a married woman, Anne Lister embarks on a journey alone to post-revolutionary Paris, a city alive with political intrigue. Here, she becomes romantically involved with a young widow, a relationship at odds with her social ambitions. Anne's efforts, firstly to extricate herself from this new 'scrape' and then to make a choice between the two women in her life, provides an absorbing sexual and social drama.'[Anne Lister's] sense of self, and self-awareness, is what makes her modern to us. She was a woman exercising conscious choice. She controlled her cash and her body. At a time when women had to marry, or be looked after by a male relative, and when all their property on marriage passed to their husband, Anne Lister not only dodged the traps of being female, she set up a liaison with another woman that enhanced her own wealth and left both of them free to live as they wished . . . The diaries gave me courage' JEANETTE WINTERSONBlood and Fire: William and Catherine Booth and the Salvation Army
Par Roy Hattersley. 1999
An uneducated youth, William Booth left home in 1849 at the age of twenty to preach the gospel for the…
New Methodist Connexion. Six years later he founded a new religious movement which succeeded to such a degree that the Salvation Army (which it became) is now a worldwide operation with massive membership.But that is only part of Booth's importance and heritage. In many ways his story is also that of the Victorian poor, as he and his wife Catherine made it their lives' work to battle against the poverty and deprivation which were endemic in the mid- to late 1800s. Indeed, it was Catherine who, although a chronic invalid, inspired the Army's social policy and attitude to female authority. Her campaign against child prostitution resulted in the age of consent being raised and it was Catherine who, dying of cancer, encouraged William to clear the slums -- In Darkest England, The Way Out. Roy Hattersley's masterful dual biography is not just the story of two fascinating lives but a portrait of an integral part of our history.