Beneath a Waning Moon: Diaries, 1985-1987 - Hardcover

Lees-Milne, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0719562198 ISBN 13: 9780719562198

Publisher: John Murray, 2003

Synopsis

Those who know him already will be prepared for the unexpected, and they will not be disappointed. Those new to him may be surprised to find - along with his honesty and delicious perceptiveness - the almost surreal oddness of some of his anecdotes.

The thoughts, pleasures and regrets of those who appear in these pages are similarly fascinating. The Prince of Wales feels that the mantle of John Betjeman has fallen on his own shoulders, Diana Mosley explains why Macmillan rather than Ribbentrop should have been hanged after the war, Mick Jagger displays an extensive knowledge of Shakespeare, and Alan Clark admits he is bored stiff by his life in politics.

JLM unites a sensibility uniquely his own with inconsistencies and prejudices of a kind we all share. He combines wit, acerbity and compassion, and is as delightful a companion in print as in life.

About this title

Review:

Bloch has done a magnificent job editing the diaries, providing excellent footnotes to guide us through this grand social ... They are a wonderful window into a dying realm of stately living, which also grants just a few glimpses of the modern world (Geordie Grieg, LITERARY REVIEW)

By turns hilarious, outrageous, acute and touching (James Ferguson, The Independent)

My favourite diarist of this century (Alan Clark)

Unquestionably one of the greatest English diarists, a rival of Pepys (David Watkin, Country Life)

[Lees-Milne is] as sharp-tongued, melancholy, jaundiced and reactionary a commentator as ever lived. ... he has the keenest of interests in life ... he is scathingly honest with and about himself (The Guardian)

Treasure chest of diary gossip ... brutally honest as ever (The Countryman)

The Diaries remain packed with delicious malice and snobbery (The Field)

A good diarist constructs a series of information time-bombs, set to detonate long after the events he describes have taken place. And, in a gentle sort of way, that is just what James Lees-Milne has done. There will definitely be a few intakes of breath in certain grandees' drawing rooms ... What distinguishes this diary is the cast. There is a good cross-section of people who had a particular social significance. James Lees-Milne was an inveterate socialiser. Never a day passes when he is not at Brooks's or some stately home or whizzing off to see somebody. The diaries are a wonderful window into a dying realm of stately living, which also grants just a few glimpses of the modern world (Geordie Grieg, Literary Review)

Book Description:

James Lees-Milne has been described as 'the finest, frankest and funniest diarist of the twentieth century'; and his sharpness and wit are undiminished in this, the tenth volume of the series.

About this edition

• Publisher: John Murray
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0719562198
• ISBN 13: 9780719562198
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272