Published by Sinclair-Stevenson, 1990

1st edition hardback. A fine book in a fine unclipped dust wrapper. Jacket is only very slightly rubbed at the edge. No previous owner names. Based upon an examination of original sources, this is a biography in which the figure of Charles Dickens and the moving spirit of his age are combined. Dickens the novelist, Dickens the radical and the actor, Dickens the prematurely exhausted middle-aged man whose own unquiet fictions seem to shape his life itself, Dickens the performer, Dickens the writer who stamped his image upon 19-century England. All these aspects are embodied in the book which is as much a study of a culture, and of a period, as it is of one extraordinary man. The author also wrote "The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde", "Hawksmoor", "Chatterton", "T.S.Eliot" and "First Light".

Published by Methuen, London. 2001.

1st edition hardback. Both book and unclipped dust wrapper are in fine condition. There are no previous owner names or marks and the jacket retains the original £19.99 price to the front flap. This biography follows Ayckbourn's early years as an actor, producer and struggling writer through to his successes as a playwright. Following his unsettled childhood, his marriages and his working relationships, the author looks at his private life while asking what has made him so successful.

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London. 2002

1st edition UK hardback in very good condition, the boards corners being only slightly bumped. The dust wrapper has some surface marks but no fading and is otherwise very good and is not clipped. There are no previous owner names or marks. Winner of the Edgar Award, Eric Ambler's autobiography Here Lies is an intriguing look inside the mind of one of our greatest thriller writers. Here the famously recalcitrant Ambler peels back the layers of experience that affected his life with the same skill he uses to unfold the plots of his novels. His South London childhood; his brief engineering career, which he gave up to work in theatre; his time as an advertising copywriter; the publication of his revolutionary spy novels in the 1930s and '40s, including such early classics as A Coffin for Dimitrios and Journey into Fear; his service in the film division of the British War Office during World War II, which allowed him to write his first screenplays; and his post-war renown as the leading writer in the genre on both sides of the Atlantic. In these pages this masterful spy novelist has composed a compelling and insightful examination of his life.

34. Amis, Martin: Experience

Published by Jonathan Cape, London. 2000.

1st edition hardback in fine condition. There are no previous owner names or marks. The dust wrapper is not price clipped.
One of the most gifted and innovative novelists of his generation, Martin Amis writes with candour about his life, and looks intimately at the process of writing itself. His memoir records the changing literary scene in Britain and the USA, with many anecdotes and pen-portraits.

228. Amis, Martin: Experience

Published by Jonathan Cape, London. 2000.

1st edition hardback in very near fine condition. The dust wrapper is slightly rubbed at the top edge otherwise fine and unclipped. There are no previous owner names or inscriptions.
A remarkable work of autobiography - profound, witty, and ruthlessly honest. As a writer's self-portrait, it is destined to become a classic.

Published by Chatto & Windus, London.  1997

1st edition hardback in fine condition. The dust wrapper is also fine. This is the biography of Georges Simenon, the creator of Inspector Maigret and one of the most widely read genre writers of all time. By the age of 22 he was writing 3 novels a month, and by his death Simenon had produced nearly 400, as well as 25 autobiographical books and innumerable stories, although his overriding inspiration in writing was always financial gain. Simenon prized quantitative achievement in his personal life as well. He claimed to have slept with 10,000 women by the end of his life, though his second wife put the number at a more modest 1200, including three marriages and a love affair with Josephine Baker. Simenon also had close friendships with some of the great cultural figures of the day, such as Andre Gide, Jean Renoir and Henry Miller.

Published by Rebel Inc. 2000

1st edition hardback. Both book and unclipped dust wrapper are in fine condition. Ianthe Brautigan was nine years old when her father, Californian beat writer Richard Brautigan, first told her he wanted to commit suicide. She was 24 years old when he finally took his own life with a shotgun. This memoir is Ianthe's attempt to make sense of her famous father's suicide. What emerges in the book is an account of a complex, witty, caring man who was torn apart by internal demons. Written with a clarity of recall, an understated wit and with real control and pace, the book provides an insight into the legendary man, and the daughter left behind struggling to emerge from the shadows of her father's "fiery death".

Published by The Army Records Society, Bodley Head, London 1991

This 1st Edition hardback is in very good condition, the dust wrapper is not price clipped and there are no previous owner names or marks. For Montgomery, the year and a half spent as Commander of the Eighth Army from August 1942 to December 1943 was in many respects the most interesting period of his long career. It is certainly the richest in terms of the historical evidence flowing from his own pen. This volume is the definitive published source of Montgomery's diaries, letters and other papers at this time, and contains all the significant documents with full explanatory notes.

Published by Heinemann, London, 1985

UK 1st edition hardback . Very good+ book & unclipped dust wrapper. A biography published to mark the centenary of Lawrence's birth.

Published by Faber & Faber, London. 1991.

1st edition hardback in near fine condition. The dust wrapper is in very good+ condition, it has some rubbing to the spine edge. The book has no previous owner names or inscriptions but comes with a Press Release and slip saying it is a Review Copy. The dust wrapper has not been price clipped and still retains the original £14.99 net price." Elegantly written, candid, original, Talking at the Gates presents a comprehensive account of the life and work of a writer who believed "the unexamined life is not worth living". James Baldwin was one of America's finest and most influential writers.

Published by Hodder & Stoughton, London. 2003.

Reprint hardback edition in fine/as new condition. The dust wrapper is not price clipped. There are no previous owner names or other marks.

Published by George Allen & Unwin, London. 1981

1st edition hardback. Very near fine in condition. Bumped at the top corner of the upper board but not badly and some slight surface marks to the unclipped dust wrapper. The jacket is only slightly rubbed at the edges otherwise fine. There are no previous owner names or other marks. One of the most prolific letter writers of this century, Tolkien wrote to his publishers, to members of his family, to friends and to fans of his books, a mass of letters which often reveal the inner workings of his mind, and which record the history of composition of many of his stories. This selection represents, in Tolkien's own words, a highly detailed portrait of the man in his many aspects; storyteller, scholar, Catholic, parent of a large family and observer of the world around him. The letters include fresh information about Middle-earth and its inhabitants as well as analyses by Tolkien himself of the meanings of his stories. Finally, this book will entertain anyone who appreciates the art of letter-writing, of which Tolkien was a master.

Published by George Allen & Unwin, London, 1977

1st edition, 2nd impression UK hardback in very good condition. There are no previous owner names. The dust wrapper is also very good; it is very slightly sunned at the spine and a little rubbed at the edges. The original authorised biography, and the only one written by an author who actually met J.R.R. Tolkien. In the 40 years since Tolkien's death in September 1973, millions have read The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion and become fascinated about the very private man behind the books. Humphrey Carpenter was given unrestricted access to all Tolkien's papers, and interviewed his friends and family. From these sources he follows the long and painful process of creation that produced The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion and offers a wealth of information about the life and work of the twentieth century's most cherished author.

Published privately by Michael Carritt, 1985.

1st edition paperback back in very good condition, pages clean and bright, title on spine slightly faded and smudged, cover very slightly browning with general wear. 204pp. Fascinating autobiography of senior member of the Indian Civil Service, and British Communist, who secretly supported the Indian revolutionary movement in the 930's(British intelligence never seemed to have noticed his brother was a full-time Communist Party official). Rare.

Published by Bodley Head, London. 1964.

1st edition( 3rd imp) hardback in very good condition. The book has no previous owner names or inscriptions. The dust wrapper has not been price clipped and still retains the original 42s net price. It is in very good condition with slight foxing to the inside, slight sun faded spine, nicks to edges.

Published by Eyre Methuen, 1980

Hardback reprint, fine in a very good, slightly edge worn dust wrapper. First published in 1980, A Liar's Autobiography, is Graham Chapman's extraordinary and surreal account of his more than eventful life--whether as mountaineer or medical student; actor or alcoholic; heterosexual groupie guzzler or homosexual coming to terms with himself. He was a celebrated member of the Monty Python team and his zany wit became familiar to millions of viewers worldwide in assorted roles as military colonel, policeman and doctor and as the eponymous hero of the Python film The Life of Brian.

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1978

1st edition. Very good in like unclipped d/w. Previous owner plate to front pastedown. Memoirs, stories and anecdotes from one of the last surviving nobles of Old Hapsburg Poland.

Published by Secker and Warburg, London, 1989

1st edition hardback. Very good in an unclipped d/w. College stamps to both front and rear pastedowns otherwise nr fine. In a long career that found him combining the roles of soldier, spy and ornithologist, Richard Meinertzhagen's varied exploits included attending the Paris Peace Conference with T.E.Lawrence and publishing diaries of life in Kenya. This biography charts the life and times of a controversial figure.

Published by Sidgwick & Jackson, London. 1985.

1st edition hardback in near fine condition. Top page edges a little dusty otherwise fine. There are no previous owner names or other marks. The dust wrapper is also near fine being price clipped but there is no fading and surface marks are minimal.

Published by Sinclair-Stevenson, London, 1997

1st edition hardback in fine condition. No signs of use. Unclipped dust jacket with very slight marks. This reassessment of Somerset Maugham's life reveals a different man from the one of popular thought. It explores his life as a young man-about-town, his marriage - much of it spent abroad with his American lover Gerald Haxton, and the influence of his brothers, one of whom became Lord Chancellor.

Published by Oxford University Press, 1990

1st edition hardback book in fine condition. The unclipped dust wrapper has a small scuff at the top edge, rear panel otherwise fine. William Gerhardie was the rising star of the 1920s, hailed as the most brilliant writer of the decade, and admired by Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh, Olivia Manning and many others. Yet by 1940 he had ceased to publish, and increasingly towards the end of his life he lived as a recluse. This is the first biography of an eccentric, who was feted by the rich and famous, and whose novels are living testimony to his wit and humour as a writer. He died in London in 1977. Dido Davies has made full use of Gerhardie's extensive archive - letters, diaries, and manuscripts - to produce an account of the man and his age that is both funny and moving.

Published by Macmillan, London, 1990

Uncorrected proof copy, reduced format, card wrappers in good condition being slightly rubbed at the titles on the upper board. A list of photo credits is given but the images are not present. Internally fine. Like Miles himself, this book holds nothing back. Here are the jazz greats who destroyed themselves in pursuit of women, drugs and food; and Miles' own heroine addiction. It talks about the white promoters and producers who exploited black musicians, as well as the critics who do not know what they are talking about. And here too are the great passions of Mile's life: music, of course, but also clothes, women, horses and cars. For the first time Miles describes his mysterious five-year absence from the music scene and his triumphant return. And we learn of his being lionized by long-time lover Juliette Greco and Jean-Paul Sartre in existentialist Paris, as well as getting valuable insights into the playing and individual talents of his famous musical contemporaries - John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Thelonious Monk and many more.

Published by Harper Collins, 1991

Hardback Very good, very good. Henry Miller was perhaps the most notorious and controversial writer of this century. His novels had been acclaimed for bringing a new, liberating frankness to writing about sexuality, and condemned as misogynistic pornography. Born in New York in 1891, to a rigidly conventional German-American family, Henry left America for Paris in 1930. It was there that he wrote "Tropic of Cancer", "Tropic of Capricorn" and "Black Spring". This book tells his story.

Published by HarperCollins, London. 2004.

1st edition hardback in near fine condition. The book leans slightly otherwise fine. There are no previous owner names or marks and the dust wrapper is not clipped, retaining the original £20.00 price at the front flap. This is the straight-talking, fascinating story of Viz magazine, founded in 1979 by Chris Donald – editor until 1999. Chris tells the remarkable story of the magazine, from the tatty rag produced in his Newcastle bedroom to its position as one of the bestselling magazines in the UK.

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1974

1st edition hardback. Near fine book in a very good unclipped d/w. The book has a previous owner inscription to the fep. The jacket has some small tears and chipping at the edges. 'Arnold Bennett was born in a street called Hope Street. A street less hopeful it would be hard to imagine.' Thus begins Margaret Drabble's biography of a man whose most famous achievement was to re-create, in such novels as The Old Wives' Tale and Clayhanger, the life, atmosphere and character of the 'Five Towns' region in which he was born and grew up. Arnold Bennett is a very personal book. 'What interests me', writes the author, 'is Bennett's background, his childhood and origins, for they are very similar to my own. My mother's family came from the Potteries, and the Bennett novels seem to me to portray a way of life that still existed when I was a child, and indeed persists in certain areas. So like all books this has been partly an act of self-exploration.'

2118. Durrell, Gerald: Birds, Beasts & Relatives

Published by Collins, London. 1969.

1st edition hardback, the book leans very slightly otherwise in fine condition. The jacket has a couple of tiny dirt spots at the front but is otherwise fine and unclipped, retaining the original 30s. net price. The Durrell family returns to live on the island of Corfu, and they continue the story begun in My Family and Other Animals. Already an ardent naturalist at the age of ten, the young Gerald lives in an unconventional and disordered household with his mother, sister and two brothers. Convivial and open, the family plays host to a constant stream of quirky guests. But for Gerald, the main attraction is the wildlife of Corfu. In the sun-lit olive groves or along the dusty roads lined with ancient cypresses, he spends hours observing and marvelling at the natural environment around him, watching busy lines of ants or peering down the burrows of trap-door spiders. He describes the midnight fishing trips, the collecting expeditions and the island's natural beauty with a child-like wonder that he never fails to impart to his reader.

Published by Simon & Schuster, London. 2004

1st edition hardback. Both, the book and the unclipped dust wrapper are in fine condition. There are no previous owner names or other marks. This is the first spellbinding volume of the autobiography of a musical and political icon. Circa 1965, arguably the high point of his creative genius, Bob Dylan writes on the beginnings of his music career, his loves - including his very first date - and offers a very personal, anecdotal view of this time of great creativity, innovation and music history. Bob Dylan's autobiography is a publishing and cultural event of the highest magnitude.

Field, Andrew: Nabokov: His Life In Art

Published by Hodder & Stoughton, London. 1967.

1st UK edition hardback in fine condition. There is a tidy previous owner name and date along the top edge of the front endpaper otherwise fine. The dust wrapper is not price clipped and retains the original 50s net price at the front flap.
Vladimir Nabokov is a major figure in both Russian and English literature, yet he is considered neither a Russian nor an English writer by those who acclaim his works. The brilliance, size and variety of his output, while attracting a host of admirers, has been such that both praising critics and ardent admirers are unfamiliar with his total oeuvre. Andrew Field, a distinguished young American critic, is a rare exception and has here undertaken a major task the first critical study of the complete Nabokov. It is a study which has led him to the discovery of a staggering mass of poetry, prose, drama and criticism, some of which has been forgotten by Nabokov himself during the course of his writing career of half a century. The combination of Mr. Field's knowledge of Russian and his unique treatment of Nabokov's work as an oeuvre, aided by Mr. Nabokov's co-operation, has, for the first time, sharpened the critical focus on Nabokov to reveal a greatness and stature that even the writer's fervent admirers may not have suspected.

Published by Hodder & Stoughton, London. 2007.

1st edition, later printing. Hardback in near fine condition. The book leans slightly but is otherwise fine. The dust wrapper is also near fine being only very slightly rubbed at the edges. Unclipped jacket and no previous owner names. Ranulph Fiennes has travelled to the most dangerous and inaccessible places on earth, almost died countless times, lost nearly half his fingers to frostbite, raised millions of pounds for charity and been awarded a polar medal and an OBE. He has been an elite soldier, an athlete, a mountaineer, an explorer, a bestselling author and nearly replaced Sean Connery as James Bond. In his autobiography he describes how he led expeditions all over the world and became the first person to travel to both poles on land. He tells of how he discovered the lost city of Ubar in Oman and attempted to walk solo and unsupported to the North Pole - the expedition that cost him several fingers, and very nearly his life. His most recent challenge was scaling the north face of the Eiger, one of the most awesome mountaineering challenges in the world. Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes OBE, 3rd Baronet, looks back on a life lived at the very limits of human endeavour.

Published by Simon & Schuster, 1998

1st edition hardback. Fine book and unclipped d/w. This account of the actor Peter Fonda's life reveals what it was like to grow up in one of Hollywood's most famous families, his hedonistic lifestyle in the 1960s with a host of other stars, and how he is happily married for a second time and is also a proud father.

Published by Faber And Faber, 1963

1st edition hardback. Very good in a very good unclipped d/w. Even with the very small area of rodent damage to the bottom of the spine. Edited with an introduction by Robert Gathorne-Hardy. Illustrated with b+w photos and a colour frontis by Augustus John.

Published by W.H. Allen , London. 1975.

1st UK edition. Near fine book in a very good dust wrapper. There are no previous owner names or marks. The dust wrapper is not clipped and retains the original £5.95 net price at the front flap. There are a couple of closed tears and slight wear at the jacket edges. Scarce. Lovely large format hardback tome, by award-winning Lennon biographer Goldman, taken from the journalism of Lawrence Schiller. Beautifully illustrated, with original jacket design and cover montage. The definitive must-have book for Lenny Bruce fans, As it combines journalistic passion for the hard-edged truth with the chameleon-like shape-shifting qualities that made Bruce the icon he was. The book remains far closer to the truth than the film biopic portrayal by Dustin Hoffman.

Published by Chapmans Publishers, London.

1993. A fine 1st UK edition hardback complete with unclipped dust wrapper. The wrapper is only very slightly rubbed at the edges and is now protected. There are no previous owner names or inscriptions. Memoirs of one of Britain's leading barristers, who served as a key political adviser to Prime Minister Harold Wilson and the Labour Party. Lord Goodman was also a leading lawyer and conciliator on Fleet Street, the heart of Britain's newspaper establishment, and was a leading patron of the arts.

Published by The Bodley Head, London. 1980.

1st edition hardback. This is an ex-library book with all the usual associated faults, stamps, stickers etc. Generally very good in condition. The dust wrapper is sunned at the spine but is otherwise very good and not price clipped. With superb skill and feeling, Graham Greene retraces the experiences and encounters of his extraordinary life. His restlessness is legendary; as if seeking out danger, Greene travelled to Haiti during the nightmare rule of Papa Doc, Vietnam in the last days of the French, Kenya during the Mau Mau rebellion. With ironic delight he recalls his time in the British Secret Service in Africa, and his brief involvement in Hollywood. He writes, as only he can, about people and places, about faith, doubt, fear and, not least, the trials and craft of writing.

Published by Jonathan Cape, London. 1986.

1st UK edition hardback in fine condition. There are no previous owner names and the dust wrapper is not price clipped. The story of the author's long fight against a debilitating illness.

Published by Chatto & Windus, London, 1997

1st edition hardback. There is a library sticker at the front endpaper and a tidy card holder pasted inside the rear board but the book is clean, no stamps and possibly unread. The unclipped dust wrapper has the slightest wear at the top edge otherwise fine. Hiney had access to previously unseen personal papers and also to unrecorded reminiscences by those who knew the writer well. In the light of new discoveries, a more raw, complex, twisted and brilliant Chandler emerges.

Published by Little, Brown And Company, 1999

1st edition hardback. Very fine book and unclipped d/w. Biographer Michael Holroyd turns his attention upon himself and his own family in "Basil Street Blues" (the title comes from the Basil Street Hotel where the author was conceived in the 1930s). Born into a family rich in eccentricity, Holroyd was largely brought up by his grandparents in Maidenhead because his exotic Swedish mother and reserved English father couldn't stand living together. His grandparents' marriage provided no better model - his grandfather having had a four-year affair with a woman he met at a bus stop before coming back to his grandmother. Towards the end of Holroyd's parents' lives he persuaded them to write their own stories and using the results, plus his own memories and research he has written this book.

Published by Macmillan, London, 1981

1st UK hardback edition. A near fine book in a very good d/w which has a 1inch closed tear to the bottom of the back panel. This is the autobiography of one of the undisputed giants of cinema, whose colourful career as screenwriter, actor and director mirrored a personality larger than life. From a stunning directorial debut with "The Maltese Falcon", he went on to dominate the film industry for more than half a century with his legendary narrative genius. His successes in "The African Queen", "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and "The Man Who Would be King", but his greatest glory came at the end of his life with the dual triumph of "Prizzi's Honor" and "The Dead", both starring his daughter Anjelica. This book tells the story of Huston's life, which was as varied and unpredictable as his work. Renowned as a hard drinker, gambler and hunter who made his home in America, Ireland and Mexico, he had numerous affairs and was married five times, to a schoolgirl; a gentlewoman; a motion-picture actress; a ballerina; and a crocodile: by the time of his death he was as familiar to the public as any one of his stars.

Published by Eyre Methuen, London. 1977.

1st UK edition hardback in very good condition, there are no previous owner names or inscriptions. The dust wrapper is in good condition and has not been price clipped. It has know been covered with a protective cover. In November 1929, Christopher Isherwood - determined to become a 'permanent foreigner' - packed a rucksack and two suitcases and left England on a one-way ticket for Berlin. With incredible candour and wit, Isherwood recalls the decadence of Berlin's night scene and his route to sexual liberation. As the Nazis rise to power, Isherwood describes his dramatic struggle to save his partner Heinz from the persecution of the Third Reich.

Published by Collins & Harvill Press, 1978

1st edition hardback. Neat inscription to fep, otherwise both book and jacket are very good in condition. Translated from the original Russian by Max Hayward. Illustrated with b/w photographs. Ivinskaya was Pasternak's closest companion during the last 14 years of Pasternak's life. Because of this association, (the Soviet secret police was reluctant to molest Pasternak himself in view of his standing as one of Russia's greatest poets), she was twice imprisoned in a forced labour camp. The experiences of their shared life are related with harrowing immediacy.

Published by Ebury Press 2005

1st edition hardback in fine condition. There are no previous owner names or marks. The dust wrapper is not price clipped. Richly evocative memoir of childhood, filled with the tastes of India, by bestselling cookery writer.

Published by Hodder and Stoughton, London. 1970.

1st edition UK hardback in fine condition. The dust wrapper has a couple of small closed tears and a little rubbing of the edges but is un-clipped and generally very good, it is now in a protective cover. There are no previous owner names or other marks. A very nice copy of this memoir documenting the personal and the public face of these icons of the American Civil Rights movement.

Published by Henry Holt, New York. 2000

A fine 1st edition US hardback with unclipped dust wrapper. The wrapper is only very slightly rubbed at the edges otherwise as new. There are no previous owner names or inscriptions. Patrick O'Brian, the late author of the immensely popular Aubrey-Maturin novels, zealously guarded the details of his past. Now Dean King - an expert on nautical literature and on O'Brian's novels - unveils the story of Richard Patrick Russ, a writer and intellectual who emerged from the Second World War as Patrick O'Brian, a persona created in his own imagination and later refined by decades of rumour and speculation. Drawing on interviews with relatives (including O'Brian's brother and son), friends and colleagues of his famously reclusive subject, King has fashioned a wealth of information into a dramatic and illuminating account of O'Brian's life and work.

Published by Constable and Co Ltd, London. 1993.

A fine 1st UK edition hardback complete with unclipped dust wrapper. The wrapper is only very slightly rubbed at the edges and is now protected. There are no previous owner names or inscriptions. Autobiography with a cast list that reads like a social history of the English literary establishment, including J. R. Ackerley, E. M. Forster, James Kirkup, W. S. Maugham, Daphne Du Maurier and Angus Wilson. Written with transparent honesty, from his turbulent childhood in India to the moving account of the death of his long-term companion, David.

Published by Secker & Warburg, London, 1977

1st UK edition hardback book is in very good + condition, slight bumping to extremities, foxing to page edges, no previous owner names or inscriptions. The dust wrapper is in very good condition with wear to edges, scratches/marks on the rear and some tears on the front and rear corners ( 3cm), it has not been price clipped and still retains the £6.00 net price. With a foreword by Heinrich Boll. "Kopelev's own book, perhaps the most damaging indictment of the Soviet system ever published, is a tragic account of the attempts by the Party machine to destroy a sentient and highly civilised human being and of the triumph of his spirit, his philosophy and his courage".

Published by Crown Publishers, New York. 1995

1st edition US hardback. Small bump at the top edge of the rear board, dust wrapper is price clipped otherwise fine. There are no previous owner names or marks. The bedrock, authoritative account of the little-known early life of Tennessee Williams. "Plainly a work of distinction...It will be great service to Williams' reputation and among other things may bring more of the young to an appreciation of his achievement."--Arthur Miller.

2130. Lockhart, R.H. Bruce: Your England

Published by Putnam, London. 1955

1st edition hardback in very good+ condition. The jacket is also very good but price clipped. In his volumes of memoirs and autobiography from Memoirs of a British Agent to My Europe, Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart has shared with his readers his experience of many countries and his memories of many men. Here, he sums up his impressions of the country around which his life has revolved - the England of which he has never felt himself to be a native.

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1993

Hardback edition. Book and jacket in fine condition. James Lord arrived in Paris as a soldier during world War II. Intoxicated by the glamour of the city, he presented himself at Picasso's doorstep and, amazingly, was invited inside. Then he had the temerity to ask Picasso to draw his portrait. The master complied, and Lord became a part of Picasso's circle, where he met Picasso's mistress and inspiration for his greatest paintings, the formidable beautiful painter Dora Maar. "Picasso" and Dora tells of Lord's turbulent relationship with both Picasso and this legendarily mysterious woman. With a bold instinct for psychological truth he movingly chronicles their relationship, which had all the interests of a love affair.

Published by Orion, London. 2000

1st edition hardback in very good condition. The dust wrapper is not clipped and is also very good. There are no previous owner names or marks. Marijuana Time describes the author's often hilarious experiences on a six-month posting in 1983 to Belize with the Paras, with nothing to do except skin up and party. The long days are palliated by a constant and increasingly compulsive supply of drugs and japes, until he starts using his position in the army post-room to send improbably large bundles of the stuff home--to his army flat in Aldershot. Finally caught, Marijuana Time now becomes Jailbird Time, but with no let-up from the weed. Whilst doing his stretch, his wife Carol has their baby, and the tale darkens.

Published by Chatto & Windus, London. 1970.

1st edition hardback in near fine condition. There is a small book sellers sticker at the bottom of the front paste down and the corners of the rear board have had a slight knock otherwise fine. The dust wrapper is only slightly chipped at the tips but does have a small area of tape residue at the spine top inside which shows through but unclipped and otherwise fine. The ninth volume of his ten volume autobiography. This begins with Mackenzie at age sixty-three, travelling to every battleground between Tunis and Hong Kong where the Indian Army had fought, in preparation for a book on the history of India's achievements during World War II. Photographs. Eight appendices. 325 pp.

2440. Mandela, Nelson: Long Walk to Freedom

Published by Little Brown, New York. 1994

1st edition US hardback. Very good in a very good unclipped dust wrapper. The upper board, bottom corner has had a slight bump and there is a small scratch to the rear of the dust wrapper. There are no previous owner names or marks. The autobiography of Nelson Mandela. The riveting memoirs of the outstanding moral and political leader of our time, Long Walk to Freedom brilliantly re-creates the drama of the experiences that helped shape Nelson Mandela's destiny. Emotive, compelling and uplifting, Long Walk to Freedom is the exhilarating story of an epic life; a story of hardship, resilience and ultimate triumph told with the clarity and eloquence of a born leader.

2096. Mangan, Richard (editor): Gielgud's Letters

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London. 2004

1st edition hardback in near fine condition. The book is boldly signed in red ink at the half title page, not sure by whom, otherwise fine. The unclipped dust wrapper is also fine. 'In this comprehensive volume, we see the actor in a range of roles: loving son, wicked gossip, star actor, indecisive director, anguished lover, brilliant anecdotist. This splendid book reveals an infinitely complicated and attractive character. We may not look upon his like again' Jonathan Croall, Spectator The above quotes sums it up - this astonishing collection of letters brings us up close to one of the foremost, and best loved, actors of this century. John Gielgud wrote letters almost every day of his adult life. Whether at home in London or abroad, he delighted in recounting what he felt about events around him. Here for the first time - and not previously available to biographers - are Gielgud's love letters. They show that he was not shy is expressing the intimacies of personal relationships. He also loved gossip and writes about his contemporaries, including the great actors of period: Olivier, Richardson, Redgrave, Peggy Ashcroft, Edith Evans and the like. A revealing account but also a hugely warm and compelling insight into a man of many sides.

2235. Marks, Howard: Mr Nice: An Autobiography

Published by Doubleday, London. 1996

Hardback edition, reprint. Signed by the author on the title page otherwise fine in a fine unclipped dust wrapper. During the mid 1980s Howard Marks had forty three aliases, eighty nine phone lines and owned twenty five companies throughout the world. At the height of his career he was smuggling consignments of up to thirty tons of marijuana, and had contact with organisations as diverse as MI6, the CIA, the IRA and the Mafia. Following a worldwide operation by the Drug Enforcement Agency, he was busted and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison at the Terre Haute Penitentiary, Indiana. He was released in April 1995 after serving seven years of his sentence. Told with humour, charm and candour, Mr Nice is his own extraordinary story.

Published by Harvill Secker, London. 2006.

1st edition hardback in fine/as new condition. There are no previous owner names or other marks. The dust wrapper is not price clipped. His travels took him to Jamaica and Panama in the footsteps of the Welsh buccaneer Henry Morgan; he went to Brazil looking for groups of Welsh settlers so obscure he never found them (although he did succeed in finding his musical idol Jimmy Page); and he searched among the thriving Welsh community in Patagonia for signs of Billy the Kid's half brother. Richly comic and charged with the sense of adventure that would induce an Oxford graduate to become the world's most notorious marijuana smuggler, Señor Nice is the hugely entertaining sequel to Mr Nice.

2044 Matthews, Stanley

The Way It Was

2000 Headline, London.

Hardback

1st edition hardback in near fine condition. The book leans slightly otherwise fine. There are no previous owner names or marks. The dust wrapper is not price clipped. The autobiography of Sir Stanley Matthews, legend and the first superstar of world football.

Published by Fourth Estate, 1996

1st edition thus hardback in fine, as new condition. The book has no previous owner names or inscriptions. The dust wrapper has not been price clipped and still retains the original £16.99 net price. The excellent, moving memoirs of Frank McCourt from his poverty stricken childhood in Ireland to his eventual settling in America. Angela's Ashes was turned into a successful film starring Robert Carlyle.

2293. Milligan, Spike: Peace Work: Peace/War Autobiography Vol. 7

Published by Michael Joseph, London. 1991

1st edition hardback. Both, book and unclipped dust wrapper are in fine condition. This volume of Spike Milligan's memoirs begins in 1946 when he leaves the army and returns to a drab London to resume his career as a band musician. Eventually after several tours entertaining the troops in Germany, he turns to script writing for radio, then teams up with some other lunatics including Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers who decide to call themselves "The Goons".

2152. Mizener, Arthur: The Far Side of Paradise

Published by Eyre & Spottiswoode, London. 1951

1st edition hardback in very good condition. The dust wrapper is unclipped but is a little rubbed at the edges. The Far Side of Paradise is a biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald by Arthur Mizener. It was the first biography about Fitzgerald to be published and is credited with renewing public interest in the subject. It dealt frankly with Scott's alcoholism and his wife Zelda's schizophrenia.

Published by Cassell, 1966

1st edition hardback in very good condition with dust wrapper. Part 1 of the autobiography.

2322. Murray, Nicholas: Kafka

Published by Little, Brown, London. 2004

1st edition hardback in fine condition. The dust wrapper is only very slightly rubbed at the top edge otherwise fine and unclipped. This gripping biography of the great Czech novelist, diarist and short story writer chronicles Kafka's entire (if tragically curtailed) life (1883-1924), but it focuses upon the writer's relationship to his father and his inheritance as a member of the Jewish mercantile bourgeoisie in Prague. Born into a German- speaking Jewish family, Kafka was a subject of the Austro-Hungarian empire until 1919 yet through his work he is one of the most modern of writers. While previous works have concentrated on Kafka and his women, Nicholas Murray will concentrate on his extraordinary relationship with his father which found its most eloquent literary expression in the story 'The Judgement' written in 1912 when Kafka was twenty-nine: in a reverse Oedipal move, the father condemns his son to death by drowning. This work is essential for an understanding of the intensely private and complex Kafka and the kind of writer he turned out to be - the creator in The Castle, The Trial and Metamorphosis (the dazzling short story whose hero wakes up to find himself transformed into a giant insect) of some of the defining literature of the 20th century.

Published by Arthur Barker, London. 1983.

1st edition hardback in fine condition. There are no previous owner names or other marks. The dust wrapper is not price clipped. A biography of the creator of The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man and others.

Published by Collins, London, 1976

1st edition hardback. Very good in a like unclipped d/w. Jacket is very slightly sunned at the spine. Patrick O'Brian's outstanding biography of Picasso explores comprehensively the life of this awe-inspiring artist. Enormously productive and hugely successful, Picasso continues to attract avid, insatiable public interest. O'Brian was a close friend and a neighbour of Picasso's and the book reflects the closeness of their friendship and the immense erudition and warm wit of Patrick O'Brian.

Published by Heinemann, London. 1994.

1st edition hardback in fine condition. There are no previous owner names or other marks. The dust wrapper is very good being only very slightly sunned at the spine with some light surface marks. The jacket is not price clipped. This reassessment of John Steinbeck, Nobel Prize-winner, draws on the reminiscences of his wife and friends, and on Steinbeck's own huge legacy of letters, diaries and manuscripts, to create a portrait of a writer who established himself through sheer hard work, and whose greatest works captured the desperation and indignation experienced by ordinary Americans during the Great Depression.

Published by Bloomsbury, 1992 Hardback

1st edition. Has a couple of small tears and creases to the back panel of the otherwise very good unclipped d/w. The book is fine. An essential book for anyone interested in John Cage's music or post-war classical music. It gives a comprehensive view of Cage's entire life as well as his thoughts on music, covering his time both before and after discovering Zen. David Revill writes in a matter of fact, straightforward manner, without infusing the book with his personal opinions, although his percussion background comes through when he describes the rhythmic details of Cage's compositions. Overall a fine introduction to Cage's thought but be sure to hear his music as well.

Published by Pavilion Books, 1994

Hardback, both book and dust wrapper are fine in condition. This is the story of the career of Lionel Bart, telling of breathtaking success and wealth, followed by a fall to the lower depths, and a long, slow crawl back to life. Towards the end of the 1950s, Bart's "Oliver!" brought audiences back to the West End theatre. But within ten years the creator of songs such as "As Long as He Needs Me" and "Livin' Doll" was a bankrupt - financially and morally. Broken by drink and drugs, deserted by his "friends", he spent another decade in limbo, and remains there still.

Published by Mainstream Publishing, 1983

Hardback 1st edition. Very good in a like unclipped d/w. Biography of the Scottish writer James Kennaway, author of five novels, one play, several films, and a number of screenplays. Probably best known as the author of ''Tunes of Glory'', a novel dealing with a clash between two officers in a peacetime Scottish regiment, later filmed with John Mills and Alec Guinness. 239pp, 24 b&w photographic illustrations.

Published by William Heinemann Ltd, 1994

Hardback 1st edition. Fine book in like wrapper. Graham Greene was devoted to intrigue and secrecy, and spent much time keeping inquisitive fans and critics at bay. There was apparently much to hide - a complex sex life, espionage adventures, dubious literary dealings and curious religious activities. In this biography, Sheldon tells the story of a divided life as dramatic and unsettling as Greene's fiction. The biographer has based his work on extensive interviews with scores of people who knew Greene well. This book also brings to light hundreds of new documents and letters; and provides a radical reinterpretation of the man's major works, including: "Brighton Rock", "The Power and the Glory", "The Heart of the Matter" and "The Third Man".

Published by Jonathan Cape, London. 2004

1st edition hardback in fine condition. There is a small (1cm) tear at the top edge of the unclipped dust wrapper otherwise fine. The much-anticipated third and final volume of Norman Sherry's biography follows the tireless wanderings of Graham Greene, the writer's final forays into the fulminating trouble spots of the world which beckoned as sirens all his days. From the perils of Batista's Cuba, the privations of the Belgian Congo and the tumult of Haiti, Nicaragua and Panama, to his confrontation with the French mafia, his travels in Spain and, finally, his quiet death in Switzerland at the age of eighty-six. The rigour and attention to detail that gained praise for the first two volumes remains undiminished as Sherry retraces Greene's footsteps, criss-crossing the globe to visit the places that inspired Greene's novels and meeting the people who provided the models for some of literature's most memorable characters: the whiskey priest; the honorary consul; the zany aunt. Never losing sight of the very real religious, emotional and political struggles that made up Greene's complicated personality - his constantly questioned but never abandoned Catholicism, his two long-term affairs with married women, his determination to stand up for the victims of injustice - Sherry illuminates Greene's mind, methods and motivation with an unswervingly critical, yet always compassionate eye. With exclusive access to Greene's letters, journals and dream-diaries, Norman Sherry has written a monumental tribute to one of the greatest of English writers. The three volumes of "The Life of Graham Greene" will remain the standard work on Greene for decades to come.

Published by Souvenir Press, London. 1974

1st edition UK hardback in very good condition. Boards corners bumped and page edges slightly soiled, overall very good. The dust wrapper is also very good and not clipped but is a little rubbed at the edges with some water marks on the reverse. There are no previous owner names or marks. Illustrated by the author. At the same time a record of a friendship between two exceptional but deeply dissimilar personalities, a fascinating picture of life in China after Sun Yat Sen's revolution, and a treasure-house of anecdotes about political events and figures. But it is above all a unique record of the formative years of one of the most powerful and intriguing world leaders of recent history.

Published by J. M. Dent & Sons, 1986 Hardback 1st edition. Fine book in a very good d/w. Jacket is slightly rubbed at the edges with a slight area of loss at the bottom of the spine. The fullest account of Evelyn Waugh yet published, rejecting the stereotyped image of Waugh and revealing a more complex and serious artist behind the malicious clowning. Photographs.

Published by Ebury Press, London. 2013 1st edition UK hardback. There is a publisher's book plate signed by the author at the half title page otherwise fine/ as new condition. There are no previous owner names. The dust wrapper is not price clipped. The wry, perceptive and brilliantly evocative memoir of one of Britain's best-loved cooks.

2097. Toland, John: Adolf Hitler

Published by Doubleday, New York. 1976

1st edition UK hardback in near fine condition. The top page edges are slightly grubby and spotted with foxing otherwise fine. The unclipped dust wrapper is also near fine being only very slightly rubbed at the edges with a couple of small closed tears. Adolf Hitler. To come from total obscurity, join an insignificant Political Party and within a few short years transform this small party Germans into the Nazi Party, which in turn spread death & destruction through out the World. How did one person command such obedience? Why & how did Nazis come to power? Ordinary German people voted for and were led by the Nazis. John Toland's biography of Hitler & his Party, answers these and other questions ..............Brilliant Read.

Published by Duckworth, London, 1979 1st edition UK hardback. Slightly darkened page edges and a previous owner name at the front endpaper otherwise very good in a very good unclipped dust wrapper. The jacket is a little rubbed and chipped at the edges and tips with a couple of small tears at the top of the spine. At seventeen Bridget fell in love with Hitler's dashing half-brother, Alois. They leave her native Ireland to marry and settle in Liverpool in 1910. Illustrated with unusually informal black and white photographs, this revealing and intimate account of her relationship with Hitler's family makes fascinating reading. Adolf's "missing year" is plausibly accounted for: in 1912 Alois and Bridget meet the future Fuhrer off the train at Liverpool's Lime Street station. He is dirty disheveled and ill and is a difficult guest in their home for several months.

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London. 1954.

1st edition hardback in very good+ condition. There are no previous owner names or inscriptions however the impression in the front endpaper suggests one has been erased. Otherwise, internally very clean except for a slight browning of the paper. The dust wrapper is a little worn at the top edge with only very small chips missing at the tips of the corners and top of the spine. The jacket has not been price clipped and retains the original 16s. net price at the front flap. Einstein is a classic biography of the man and proverbial genius who has been called the brain of the [twentieth] century.

Published by Thorsons/Harper Collins , London. 1995.

Scarce 1st edition hardback in very near fine condition, the only fault being a tidy inscription to the previous owner on the front endpaper. Tight and clean, possibly unread. The dust wrapper is also fine in condition and not clipped, retaining the original £15.99 net price at the front flap. Daughter of "Stars on Sunday" star Jess Yates and an eccentric starlet mother, Paula Yates's childhood was bizarre and often painful. She escaped from Wales to the glamour and chaos of the media world - the Boomtown Rats, Bob Geldof and her days on "The Tube". This is her own account of her life. As a TV personality, author and mother of three, Paula was frequently featured in the tabloids and her romance with INXS star Michael Hutchence caused a media frenzy. This autobiography sets the record straight.An excellent copy of this highly collectable book.