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Harold Nicolson was a man of extraordinary gifts. A renowned politician, historian, biographer, diarist, novelist, lecturer, journalist, broadcaster and gardener, his position in society and politics allowed him an insight into the most dramatic events of British, indeed world, history. Nicolson's personal life was no less dramatic. Married to Vita Sackville-West, one of the most famous writers of her day, their marriage survived, even prospered, despite their both being practising homosexuals. Unashamedly elitist, bound together by their literary, social, and intellectual pursuits, moving in the refined circles of the Bloomsbury group they viewed life from the rarified peaks of aristocratic haughtiness. Few men could boast such gifts as Nicolson possessed, yet he ended his life plagued by self-doubt. 'I am attempting nothing; therefore I cannot fail,' he once acknowledged. What went wrong? It was a question that haunted Nicolson throughout his adult life. Relying on a wealth of archival material, Norman Rose brilliantly disentangles fact from fiction, setting Nicolson's story of perceived failure against the wider perspective of his times.
One of the great 20th century political diaries 'Brilliant, riveting stuff' TRIBUNE 'One stops to marvel at the achievement. Honesty, decency, modesty, magnanimity, are stamped on every page, as evident as the wit' EVENING STANDARD 'A tremendous read' SPECTATOR Harold Nicolson was one of the three great political diarists of the 20th century (along with Chips Channon and Alan Clark). Nicolson was an MP (Conservative, 1935-45, who also flirted with Labour after WWII). He had previously been in the Foreign Office and attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, and material from this period is included in this new edition for the first time. Nicolson never achieved high office, but rarely a da...
The classic story of the relationship between Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, and a unique portrait of the Bloomsbury Group. 'Vita and Harold have become part of our literature' OBSERVER The marriage of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson was one of the most controversial relationships of the 20th century. This selection of letters, many of which have never been published, skilfully woven together by their son, Nigel Nicolson, gives dramatic new insight into their fascinating lives. Set within a framework of their son's highly personal memories, the story of this most extraordinary of marriages comes full circle - from the announcement of their engagement in 1912, through the storm days of Vita's well-known affairs with Violet Trefusis and Virginia Woolf, during the years of long separation as Harold's profession as a diplomat took him abroad, and culminating in the days leading up to Vita's death in 1962.
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On the face of it, bracketing Harold Nicolson and Vladimir Nabokov seems unexpected but the latter paid a remarkable tribute to Some People . When speaking to Harold Nicolson's son, Nigel, he confessed that all his life he had been fighting against the influence of Some People. ' The style of that book is like a drug', he said. The critic and biographer, Stacy Schiff, has also admitted ' Some People has exerted more influence than I care to admit. I would reread it any day of the week.' Ever since first publication in 1927 it has been attracting this sort of praise. It is an unusual book comprising nine chapters each one being a sort of character sketch: Miss Plimsoll; J. D. Marstock; Lamber...
Harold Nicolson was well qualified to write this book. His father, Sir Arthur Nicolson, was a diplomat as he himself was in early adulthood being a member of the British delegation to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 as well as serving in other capacities. A later historian of the Congress, Adam Zamoyski, has described it in the following way: 'The reconstruction of Europe at the Congress of Vienna is probably the most seminal episode in modern history.' Harold Nicolson's classic account written piquantly just after the Second World War is memorable not just for its adroit grasp of the many complex issues but also for its numerous vivid character sketches of the principal peacemakers: Alex...
One of the great 20th century political diaries 'Brilliant, riveting stuff' TRIBUNE 'One stops to marvel at the achievement. Honesty, decency, modesty, magnanimity, are stamped on every page, as evident as the wit' EVENING STANDARD 'A tremendous read' SPECTATOR Harold Nicolson was one of the three great political diarists of the 20th century (along with Chips Channon and Alan Clark). Nicolson was an MP (Conservative, 1935-45, who also flirted with Labour after WWII). He had previously been in the Foreign Office and attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, and material from this period is included in this new edition for the first time. Nicolson never achieved high office, but rarely a da...
Harold Nicolson is one of the three great political diarists of the 20th century. Nicolson was an MP who attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. He never achieved high office, but rarely a day went by when he didn't record what was going on at Westminster. He socialized widely, was married to the poet and author Vita Sackville-West, and together they created the famous garden at Sissinghurst. The diversity of Harold Nicolson's interests and the irony in his writing make his diary a highly entertaining record of his life and times, as well as a document of great historical value.
�If we in Great Britain are resolute and wise there will emerge from this catastrophe something which may well give hope to the world� First published in 1939 as a Penguin Special, this is the original best-selling account of why Britain went to war with Germany. In simple terms it describes the stages of Adolf Hitler�s ruthless pursuit for power, identifies his methods of deception and false diplomacy, and details his terrifying use of force that rendered peaceful negotiation increasingly difficult, and finally impossible. Shining a light on Hitler�s early life and character, Harold Nicolson reveals the dictator�s political theories in Mein Kampf, and explains the strategies he adopted in seizing the Rhineland, Austria, Czechoslovakia and later Poland. Written with clarity and insight, and read widely by soldiers during World War II, the final message of hope and peace is as relevant today as it was in 1939. This facsimile edition includes a new introduction by Andrew Roberts, best-selling author of The Storm of War; Masters and Commanders and Hitler and Churchill: Secrets of Leadership.