From the author of a fine biography of Sophia Tolstoy (2010) this is an excellent life of the literary giant. Born in Berdychiv (incidentally also a birthplace of Joseph Conrad and Vladimir Horowitz), Grossman spent his life witnessing and covering monumental events that gave shape to the 20th century – man-made famine in the Ukraine, battle of Stalingrad, the Holocaust. With his moral compass always set to oppose totalitarianism, he’s not afraid to compare Nazi-crimes and Soviet atrocities, and shows parallels between the two ideologies.
The ‘Club’, aka the Turk’s Head Tavern, was frequented by Joshua Reynolds, Edmund Burke, Adam Smith, Edward Gibbon et alia. Damrosch takes us on a lively tour of the Johnsonian world.
On 15 October 1838, the body of a thirty-six-year-old woman was found in Cape Coast Castle, West Africa, a bottle of Prussic acid in her hand. She was one of the most famous English poets of her day. The story of her life, and the cover-up following her death, is extraordinary.
Drawing on unpublished letters, minutes, memoirs and diaries, a scion tells the story of one of the world’s great – and still independent – publishing houses.
A biography of the C14th proto-historian whose ‘Muqaddima’, on the principles of history and rise and fall of dynasties, is widely held to be a work of genius. Irwin, intelligent and contrary, is awake to the deceptiveness of making too many modern parallels: rather, through Ibn Khaldun, the modern reader can access a pre-modern approach to understanding societies and the world.
Author, illustrator, librettist, puppet-maker, master of pseudonyms, owner of 20,000 books and 6 cats: there is so much to say about the Awdrey-Gore legacy that all we shall announce is that this is a very fine biography. And that Ogdred Weary had a suspiciously normal and fantod-free childhood.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkPrivacy policy
