For nearly a decade I have wanted; with a growing sense of urgency; to write something which would show what the whole War and post-war period — roughly; from the years leading up to 1914 until about 1935 — has meant to the men and women of my generation; the generation of those boys and girls who grew up just before the war broke out. I wanted to give too; if I could; an impression of the changes which that period brought about in the minds and lives of very different groups of individual...

'Profound, shattering and utterly immersive' Frances Wilson'Blurring the edges of biography and autobiography, Bostridge displays a profound empathy for Adele, even at her most baffing and elusive' Literary ReviewIn this unforgettably shattering memoir, Mark Bostridge finds himself haunted by the daughter of Victor Hugo. More than a century after her mysterious disappearance, he pursues Adele on her doomed and reckless journey of unrequited...

The Fateful Year by Mark Bostridge is the story of England in 1914. War with Germany, so often imagined and predicted, finally broke out when people were least prepared for it.Here, among a crowded cast of unforgettable characters, are suffragettes, armed with axes, destroying works of art, schoolchildren going on strike in support of their teachers, and celebrity aviators thrilling spectators by looping the loop. A theatrical diva prepares to shock her au...

The inspiration for the film Testament of Youth, this book from Mark Bostridge (Vera Brittain's biographer) tells the story of a remarkable woman and her extraordinary account of the destructive power of war.In the midst of her studies at Oxford when war broke out across Europe, Vera Brittain left university in 1915 to become a V.A.D (Voluntary Aid Detachment) nurse, treating soldiers in London, Malta and Etaples in France. The events of the First World Wa...

2013 marks the centenary of the birth of Benjamin Britten. Here is an outstanding collection of essays to mark the event.Britten's Century considers various aspects of Britten's life and work. The book is written by biographers, performers and music critics. Here is a wealth of subject matter - Britten's operatic output, his orchestral works, his contribution to the revival of English song.Biographically, this book moves on beyond the relationship ...

Bloomsbury presents In Pursuit of Love by Mark Bostridge, read by John Hastings.From Normandy to the Caribbean Islands, this innovative biographical pursuit follows Adèle Hugo on her reckless journey of unrequited love – and the writer who chased after her more than 150 years later.It’s 1863. The daughter of the most famous writer in the world, Victor Hugo, who has ambitions as a writer and composer, suddenly leaves her family’s home on the Channel Islands bound for Nova Sc...

A selection of the powerful and poignant wartime letters of Vera Brittain and her friends.‘If war spares me,’ wrote Vera Brittain to her brother Edward in 1916, ‘it will be my one aim to immortalise in a book the story of us four.’ Seventeen years later, Vera was to achieve her aim with the acclaimed Testament of Youth.This series of letters was the inspiration behind Testament. Written between Vera, her brother, her fiancé Roland Leighton and their two best frien...

National Bestseller: An "astute and riveting" novel of a Dutch teenager thrust into the dangers and moral perils of his country's Nazi occupation ( The New York Times).In the summer of 1939, fourteen-year-old Jacob Koopman and his older brother, Edwin, enjoy lives of prosperity and quiet contentment. Many of the residents in their small Dutch town have some connection to the Koopman lightbulb factory, and locals hold the family in high esteem.On days...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “bracing” (Vox) guide for surviving and resisting America’s turn towards authoritarianism, from “a rising public intellectual unafraid to make bold connections between past and present” (The New York Times)“Timothy Snyder reasons with unparalleled clarity, throwing the past and future into sharp relief. He has writ...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERDeepen your insight into and appreciation for the writings J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis as you explore the untold story of how the First World War shaped their lives, faith, and writings.Had there been no Great War, there would have been no Hobbit, no Lord of the Rings, no Narnia—perhaps even no conversion to Christianity by C.S. Lewis.The First World War laid waste to a contine...

Readers of the Harry Potter seriesand Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell are sure to be mesmerized by Dan Vyleta’s thrilling blend of historical fiction and fantasy, as three young friends scratch the surface of the grown-up world to discover startling wonders—and dangerous secrets.“Dan Vyleta writes with intricacy and imagination and skillful pacing; never once would I have considered putting his book down. In the manner of both a Dickens novel and ...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A wild and willful young woman finds herself at the center of a tale of spirits, ancient evils, and the mysterious winter-king Frost—in the lyrical first novel of the Winternight Trilogy.“A beautiful deep-winter story, full of magic and monsters and the sharp edges of growing up.”—Naomi Novik, bestselling author of UprootedWinter lasts most of the year at the edge of the Russian wilderness, and in the long nig...