Showing titles in Memoirs, Diaries & Correspondence

In 1939, 17-year-old Mary found herself in an extraordinary position at an extraordinary time: it was the outbreak of the Second World War and her father, Winston Churchill, had been appointed first lord of the admiralty; within months he would be prime minister. The young Mary Churchill was uniquely placed to observe this remarkable historical moment and her diaries - most of which have never been published - provide a front-row view of the great events of war, as well as exchanges and intimate moments with her father.

This unique and gripping document contains the recently discovered diaries of a German businessman, John Rabe, who saved so many lives in the infamous siege of Nanking in 1937 that he is now being honored as the Oskar Schindler of China. As the Japanese army closed in and all foreigners were ordered to evacuate, Rabe mobilized the remaining Westerners in Nanking and organized an "International Safety Zone" which guaranteed safety to all unarmed Chinese by virtue of Germany's pact.

With two young boys, a new lecturer position, and all the commitments of an active life, Ros Ben-Moshe had no plans for a tumor to take over her life. Yet after the news came on her 43rd birthday, medical appointments turned into hours of surgery, casual conversations disappeared, and even her children started asking questions. In recovery rooms, as the clock slowly ticks, Ros Ben-Moshe starts writing. Through ups and downs, she tells it all, in an honest account of fighting the Big C, or should we say the small c?

Ein Glücksfall für die Historiker: Harry Graf Kessler (1868–1937) beschrieb das Zeitgeschehen der Jahre 1933-37. Seine Berichterstattungen geben präzise Einblicke in die politischen und gesellschaftlichen Entwicklungen und sind Zeugnisse vom Leben und Denken eines aufgeklärten europäischen Intellektuellen. Kessler floh schon im März 1933 nach Frankreich und Spanien. Im Jahr 1935 wurden seine Bücher öffentlich verbrannt, aber bis zu seinem Tod führte er Gespräche mit Zeitgenossen und hielt die politischen Ereignisse akribisch fest. Kesslers Berichte sind ein wichtiger Beitrag zur Geschichtsschreibung dieser Zeit.

On 16 August 1952, Ian Fleming wrote to his wife, Ann, "My love, This is only a tiny letter to try out my new typewriter and to see if it will write golden words since it is made of gold". And he did write golden words: 14 best-selling James Bond books and an equally energetic flow of letters to his wife, publisher, editors, fans, friends and critics, charting 007's progress....

La première lecture d'une lettre de Mme de Sévigné remonte à 1645. La jeune Marie était âgée de dix-neuf ans. C'était chez Monsieur de Molac, gouverneur de Nantes. Depuis cette année, il est plus sage de renoncer à compter le nombre de fois où Mme de Sévigné a été dite à voix haute ; mais chaque fois, c'est la même magie. Magie des mots, magie des anecdotes piquantes et magie aussi du temps aboli. On pourrait se croire revenu dans un salon du Siècle de Louis XIV, entre la Cour et les Grands de ce monde.

Le "Lettere dal carcere" di Antonio Gramsci vennero pubblicate, su decisione di Togliatti, per la prima volta da Einaudi nel 1947 in una edizione costituita da 218 testi. Si trattava di una raccolta incompleta, che però per prima portava a conoscenza del grande pubblico l'opera di Gramsci. Il libro vinse il premio Viareggio di quell'anno. Nel 1965 uscì la nuova edizione Einaudi, a cura di Caprioglio e Fubini, con la pubblicazione di 428 testi. Le lettere hanno come destinatari principalmente i due nuclei familiari: la famiglia d'origine con la madre, Peppina Marcias, le sorelle, Teresina e Grazietta, e il fratello Carlo che vive a Milano e la famiglia acquisita, russa: la moglie Giulia Schucht, la cognata, Tatiana, i figli, Delio e Giuliano, e l'amico Piero Sraffa, professore di economia a Cambridge.

Morris waxes on the ironies of modern life in all their resonant glories and inevitable stupidities - from her daily exercise (a "statutory thousand paces of brisk walk") to the troubles of Brexit; her enduring yet complicated love for America; and honest reflections on the vagaries and ailments of aging. Both intimate and luminously wise, Thinking Again is a testament to the virtues of embracing life, creativity, and above all, kindness.

Delle 820 lettere scritte da Van Gogh nell'arco della sua breve esistenza ben 651 sono indirizzate al fratello Theo: il primo a comprenderne il talento e a incoraggiarne la vocazione, e il solo che non gli negò mai l'indispensabile sostegno morale e finanziario. Pochi artisti hanno rivelato così tanto di sé stessi nei propri scritti.

A toddler's mother, both an intimate guide and an affectionate coach, writes to a pregnant friend about the transforming experience of motherhood.

Beginning in 1987, as she embarks on an affair that she knows will be all-consuming and ending in 1995 with the publication of The First Stone and the furore that followed it, Garner reveals the inner life of a woman in love and a great writer at work. With devastating honesty and sparkling humour, she grapples with what it means for her sense of self to be so entwined with another - how to survive as an artist in a partnership that is both enthralling and uncompromising.

In 1979, 24-year-old Maura O'Halloran moved to Japan and became the first woman ever admitted to Toshoji Temple. Soshin-san (O'Halloran's monastic name) labored through three intense years of work and study in preparation for becoming a dharma teacher. Her life ended abruptly during a trip to Thailand, and today Soshin-san is revered as a Buddhist saint. The material in this program is from her private and heartfelt journals and letters.

When actress and activist Brittany Snow was a teenager, she read an article about another woman’s hardship that made her feel seen and less alone. She carried that story in her back pocket for a long time. This experience was a gift that Brittany then paid forward when she revealed her own experience in a published article. Brittany’s story resonated with a young reader, who kept that story in her back pocket, where it was when the two crossed paths serendipitously.

Letters of Note, the book based on the beloved website of the same name, became an instant classic on publication in 2013, selling hundreds of thousands of copies. This new edition sees the collection of the world's most entertaining, inspiring, and unusual letters updated with 14 riveting new missives and a new introduction from curator Shaun Usher.

Sally Urwin and her husband, Steve, own High House Farm in Northumberland, which they share with Mavis the sheepdog, one very fat pony and many, many sheep. Set in beautiful, wild landscape, and in use for generations, it's the perfect setting for Sally's (sometimes brutally) honest and charming account of farming life. From stock sales to lambing sheds, and out in the fields in snow and on hot summer days, A Farmer's Diary reveals the highs, lows and hard work involved in making a living from the land.

Every evening for eight years, at his request, President Obama was given 10 handpicked letters written by ordinary American citizens - the unfiltered voice of a nation - from his Office of Presidential Correspondence. He was the first president to interact daily with constituent mail and to archive it in its entirety. In To Obama, Jeanne Marie Laskas interviews President Obama, the letter writers themselves, and the White House staff who sifted through the powerful, moving, and incredibly intimate narrative of America during the Obama years:

Amanda Vaill, Jerome Robbins biographer and authority, drawing on the vast and closely held Robbins archives, has put together a selection of his writings, giving us a sense of his extraordinary range as a thinker and artist, as well as a surprising and revealing glimpse into the mind and heart of this towering cultural giant.

Contemplativo, beligerante y dolorosamente tierno. El libro más personal de uno de los grandes escritores de nuestro tiempo. Auster parte de la llegada de las primeras señales de la vejez para evocar episodios de su vida: el despertar del deseo sexual, los lazos del matrimonio, un accidente de coche, la muerte de su madre o las 21 casas en las que ha vivido.

How does one record an extraordinary time? Confined to his Delhi apartment, Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee unravels the intimate paradoxes of the life he encounters in the first weeks of a global pandemic. His stories about local fish sellers, gardeners, barbers, and lovers merge with his concerns for the exodus of migrant labourers, the challenges faced by health workers, and a mother braving check posts to bring her son home.

In this volume, Shaun Usher turns to the cat - a subject of fascination, amusement, reverence, and joy. Even before they reigned supreme on the internet, their idiosyncratic ways and hold on our affections had long been written about in many forms. Letters of Note collects together the most engaging missives that celebrate eulogize, rail against and analyze the ways of our feline companions. Includes letters by Nikola Tesla, Rachel Carson, Anne Frank, John Cheever, and many more.