A dynamic tale of art and friendship, set between the World Wars, against the backdrop of a rapidly changing worldEric Ravilious is one of the best-known twentieth-century English artists. For many, his watercolors capture the spirit of midcentury England. But while he had a style of his own, he did not work in isolation; he worked within a network of artists that included fellow students at the Royal College of Art such as Edward Bawden, Barnett Freedman, Enid Mar...

In recent years Eric Ravilious has become recognized as one of the most important British artists of the 20th century, whose watercolours and wood engravings capture an essential sense of place and the spirit of mid-century England. What is less appreciated is that he did not work in isolation, but within a much wider network of artists, friends and lovers influenced by Paul Nashs teaching at the Royal College of Art Edward Bawden, Barnett Freedman, Enid Marx, Tirzah Garwood, Percy Horton,...

From an acclaimed social and architectural historian, the tumultuous, scandalous, glitzy, and glamorous history of English country houses and high society during the interwar periodAs WWI drew to a close, change reverberated through the halls of England's country homes. As the sun set slowly on the British Empire, the shadows lengthened on the lawns of a thousand stately homes.In The Long Weekend, historian Adrian Tinniswood introduces us to the tu...

A fascinating collection of letters from the great English novelist – and prolific correspondent – Penelope FitzgeraldAcclaimed for her exquisitely elegant novels – including the Booker Prize-winning ‘Offshore’ – and superb biographies, Penelope Fitzgerald was one of the most admired authors in Britain during the last century. ‘So I Have Thought Of You’ is an invaluable addition her distinguished oeuvre.Penelope Fitzgerald was one of the most distinctive voices in British l...

Why did London Underground once employ a one-legged man to ride up and down the escalators at Earl's Court tube station? What did Hitler plan to do with Nelson's Column? Why is London's only medieval mummy a prostitute named Clarice la Claterballock? How did a beer flood in Tottenham Court Road drown nine people? Where can you see a pair of Queen Victoria's knickers?Containing chapters covering London past and present; buildings and streets; famous and unexpected Londoners; arts, li...

This final compilation from James Lees-Milne's celebrated diaries covers the last fourteen years of his life, when he was living on the Duke of Beaufort's Badminton estate. Old age and infirmity have not dimmed his sharpness, literary skill or interest in the world around him, and his reflection on people, places and experiences are as vivid as ever. A tour of the Cotsworlds makes him ruefully aware of the yuppy trends of the Thatcher era, while he predicts that the New Labour victory will...

Ann Treneman, the award-winning Times writer best known for her incisive parliamentary sketches, has branched out - to graveyards. In this riveting book she takes you to the most interesting graves in Britain. You'll meet the real War Horse, the best 'funambulist' ever, Byron and his dog Boatswain, Florence Nightingale and her pet owl Athena, prime ministers, kings and queens, highwaymen, scientists, mistresses, the real James Bond and, of course, M. Then there are writers, painters, poets...

John Constable was the first English landscape painter to take no lessons from the Dutch. He is rather indebted to the landscapes of Rubens, but his real model was Gainsborough, whose landscapes, with great trees planted in well-balanced masses on land sloping upwards towards the frame, have a rhythm often found in Rubens. Constable’s originality does not lie in his choice of subjects, which frequently repeated themes beloved by Gainsborough. Nevertheless, Constable seems to belong to a ne...

A gorgeous new edition of Fiona MacCarthy's ground-breaking biography of the artist- craftsman, typographer, and lettercutter, master wood-engraver, and sculptor: Eric Gill.'Fascinating on the work and fair to the man; a brilliant biography.' Independent'Scrupulous and sensitive . . . A wise and foolish English eccentric in full glory.' Observer'Full of insight and interest ....

Connecting people with places, London's distinctive Blue Plaque scheme highlights the buildings where some of the most remarkable men and women in our history and culture have lived and worked.From Gertrude Bell to Karl Marx, Charlie Chaplin to Jimi Hendrix, this fully updated 5th edition of The London Blue Plaque Guide has over a thousand entries and provides an essential companion to the famous people who have made their homes in the city. As the definit...

This edition does not include illustrations.The first major life of the outstanding British painter – and Jack the Ripper suspect – Walter Sickert (1860-1942), by the highly acclaimed biographer of Aubrey Beardsley.Walter Richard Sickert is perhaps the outstanding figure of British art during the last hundred years. Many contemporary painters, from Hodgkin and Bacon to Auerbach and Kossof, acknowledge a debt to his influence. His career spanned six decades of unceasing expe...

Britain’s heritage is vanishing. Beautiful landscapes are being bulldozed. Historic buildings are being blown up. Stonehenge is collapsing.Enter Ferguson’s Gang, a mysterious and eccentric group of women who help the National Trust to fight back. The Gang raise huge sums, which they deliver in delightfully strange ways: Victorian coins inside a fake pineapple, a one hundred pound note stuffed inside a cigar, five hundred pounds with a bottle of homemade sl...