Nancy Mitford & Evelyn Waugh were two of the twentieth century's most amusing & gifted writers who matched wits & traded literary advice in more than five hundred letters over twenty-two years. Dissecting their friends criticizing each other's books & concealing their true feelings beneath a barrage of hilarious & knowing repartee they found it far easier to conduct a friendship on paper than in person. This correspondence provides a colorful glimpse into the literary & social circles of London & Paris during the Second World War & for twenty years after. ...

In the period covered by this richly detailed collection which brings the poet to the age of forty T.S. Eliot was to set a new course for his life & work. Forsaking the Unitarianism of his American forebears he was received into the Church of England & naturalised as a British citizen
- a radical & public alteration of the intellectual & spiritual direction of his career. The demands of Eliots professional life as writer & editor became more complex & exacting during these years. The celebrated but financially-pressed periodical he had been editing since 1922
- The Criterion"
- switched between being a quarterly & a monthly before being rescued by the fledgling house of Faber & Gwyer. In addition to writing numerous essays & editorials lectures reviews introductions & prefaces his letters show Eliot involving himself wholeheartedly in the business of his new career as a publisher. His Ariel poems " Journey of the Magi" (1927) & "A Song for Simeon" (1928) established a new manner & vision for the poet of " The Waste Land" & " The Hollow Men". These are also the years in which Eliot published two sections of an exhilaratingly funny savage jazz-influenced play-in-verse
- " Fragment of a Prologue" & " Fragment of an Agon"
- which were subsequently brought together as " Sweeney Agonistes". In addition he struggled to translate the remarkable work " Anabase" by St. John Perse which was to be a signal influence upon his own later poetry. This correspondence with friends & mentors vividly documents all the stages of Eliots personal & artistic transformation during these crucial years the continuing anxieties of his private life & the forging of his public reputation."




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Volume 4 of the letters of T. S. Eliot which brings the poet critic editor & publisher into his forties documents a period of anxious & fast-moving professional recovery & personal & spiritual consolidation. Following the withdrawal of financial support by his patron Lady Rothermere Faber & Gwyer (subsequently Faber & Faber) takes over the responsibility for Eliots literary periodical The Criterion". He supplements his income as a fledgling publisher just as I did ten years ago by reviewing articles prefaces lectures broadcasting talks & anything that turns up. His work as editor is internationalist above all else & Eliot makes contact with a number of eminent & emergent writers & thinkers as well as forging links with European reviews. Eliots responsibilities during this period extend to caring for Vivien who returns home after months in a French psychiatric hospital & whom he looks after with anxious fortitude; & the personal correspondence with his mother closes with her death in September 1929." ...

Volume Two covers the early years of his editorship of The Criterion" (the periodical that Eliot launched with Lady Rothermeres backing in 1922) publication of " The Hollow Men" & the course of Eliots thinking about poetry & poetics after " The Waste Land". The correspondence charts Eliots intellectual journey towards conversion to the Anglican faith in 1927 as well as his transformation from banker to publisher ending with his appointment as a director of the new publishing house of Faber & Gwyer in late 1925 & the appearance of " Poems 1909-1925" Eliots first publication with the house with which he would be associated for the rest of his life. It was partly because of Eliots profoundly influential work as cultural commentator & editor that the correspondence is so prolific & so various & Volume Two of the " Letters" fully demonstrates the emerging continuities between poet essayist editor & letter-writer." ...

Volume One of the Letters of T. S. Eliot" edited by Valerie Eliot in 1988 covered the period from Eliots childhood in St Louis Missouri to the end of 1922 by which time he had settled in England married & published " The Waste Land". Since 1988 Valerie Eliot has continued to gather materials from collections libraries & private sources in Britain & America towards the preparation of subsequent volumes of the Letters edition. Among new letters to have come to light a good many date from the years 1898-1922 which has necessitated a revised edition of Volume One taking account of Approx. two hundred newly discovered items of correspondence. The new letters fill crucial gaps in the record notably enlarging our understanding of the genesis & publication of " The Waste Land". Valuable too are letters from the earlier & less documented part of Eliots life which have been supplemented by additional correspondence from family members in America." ...

Letters to a Law Student relays all that a prospective law student needs to know before embarking on their studies. It provides

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In the book that he was born to write provocateur & best-selling author Christopher Hitchens inspires future generations of radicals gadflies mavericks rebels angry young (wo)men & dissidents. Who better to speak to that person who finds him or herself in a contrarian position than Hitchens who has made a career of disagreeing in profound & entertaining ways. This book explores the entire range of contrary positions"-from noble dissident to gratuitous pain in the butt. In an age of overly polite debate bending over backward to reach a happy consensus within an increasingly centrist political dialogue Hitchens pointedly pitches himself in contrast. He bemoans the loss of the skills of dialectical thinking evident in contemporary society. He understands the importance of disagreement-to personal integrity to informed discussion to true progress-heck to democracy itself. Epigrammatic spunky witty in your face timeless & timely this book is everything you would expect from a mentoring contrarian. Ranging broadly in subject matter these brief intellectual primers to life are a stimulating read for anyone who wants to experience the insights wisdom & advice of todays leading minds. Now available for the first time in handsome & affordable new paperback editions." ...

This is an astute & lively exploration of what it's really like to do mathematics by well-known mathematician & writer Ian Stewart. The first scientific entry in Basic Books' renowned Art of Mentoring" series " Letters to a Young Mathematician" tells readers what Ian Stewart wishes he'd known when he was a student. Subjects ranging from the philosophical to the practical
- what mathematics is & why it's worth doing the relationship between logic & proof the role of beauty in mathematical thinking the future of mathematics how to deal with the peculiarities of the mathematical community & many others
- are dealt with in Stewart's much-admired style which combines subtle easygoing humour with a talent for cutting to the heart of the matter. Like GH Hardy's classic "A Mathematician's Apology" this book is sure to be a perennial favourite with students at all levels as well as other readers who are curious about what mathematics is all about. Ranging broadly in subject matter these brief intellectual primers to life are a stimulating read for anyone who wants to experience the insights wisdom & advice of today's leading minds."

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Have you ever had a crush? Fallen out with your best friend? Cathy Cassidy is here for you. There are no questions Cathy hasnt been asked & isnt afraid to answer from growing-up to dating making friends following your dreams & much more. Through the happy times the mad & crazy times & the days when you simply find yourself asking Why?
- whatevers bugging you Cathy can help...
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In a frank & unpretentious series of letters addressed to a teenage granddaughter this highly original book teaches us to know & understand the world we live in & its rules & how to behave in it. In these thirty letters Alan Macfarlane answers his granddaughters questions about how the world works how it got to be as it is what it could be & where she fits in. Lilys enquiries range from the intimate personal & moral to the political social & philosophical. What is the nature of good & evil? What is religion? How can I be truly me? Is right & wrong the same wherever you are? What is beauty? Does there have to be torture? Does money matter? Is knowledge always good? What is progress? What is truth? What is sex? Is democracy a good idea? These are just a few of the questions. In responding to Lilys challenging problems Alan Macfarlane from a lifetimes experience as a historian anthropologist & teacher ranges through history & across the worlds cultures. Her questions are timeless. His answers add up to a classic. ...