Inspired by Darwin and von Humboldt, ARW travelled to the Amazon Basin and the Malay Archipelago. He published a paper on natural selection in 1858, a year before Darwin's Origin of Species... read more
A portrait of the scandalous Oxford club, of which EW was briefly secretary, and looks at the lives of several of his contemporaries too. Seven of them found their way into Brideshead... The... read more
The author is Anatoly Kuznetsov, who grew up in Kiev. He documented as a boy the appalling massacre of Jews, Ukrainians and Russians by Nazi forces in 1941. First published in Russian (in a ... read more
A group biography of four magnificent and prodigiously talented women composers who, though famous in their lifetimes for their works, are now ghosts in the canon. All were born between 1858... read more
Shinichi Suzuki was a violinist who became more famous as an educator and philosopher; his ideas of language acquisition revolutionised musical training. He also did much to erode occidental... read more
An entertaining and affecting memoir of the great pianist's youth and early training, which began in a suburb of post-war Liverpool. Told with candour and simplicity.
Uses Beethoven's music to tell the story of his life; a zestful account, told in short chapters though a hundred pieces of music and recommended recordings.
KL was Creative Director at Chanel for thirty-five years; as seen through glasses darkly. WM, a well known fashion journalist, knew him for many years.