Showing titles in Memoirs, Diaries & Correspondence

A celebration of one of the world's best loved actors, Sir John Gielgud. Here you can hear him perform his classic roles and read some of his favourite poetry.

You may know "Teddy" Roosevelt as a President, but you may not know him as a big game hunter. Roosevelt and his friend Merrifield invite us on a journey as they follow the trail of the famed grizzly bear. You will be invited to experience the excitement of the hunt and the footpaths that, if understood, could help lead to "Old Ephraim".

"Chère Maître", c'est en ces termes que Gustave Flaubert s'adresse à George Sand. Au fil de la correspondance qu'ils échangèrent, de 1866 à 1876, se révèlent deux conceptions du monde, deux esthétiques, deux tempéraments. La générosité et l'attention aux autres de George Sand et l'esprit torturé et solitaire de Gustave Flaubert. L'amitié forte et durable qui les unira ne sera interrompue que par la mort de George Sand. Cette correspondance, belle d'intelligence, pose sur la société du XIXe siècle, un regard d'une grande pertinence.

Caterina da Siena (1347-1380) fu dichiarata prima santa nel 1461 e poi Dottore della Chiesa nel 1970. È compatrona d'Italia e d'Europa. Caterina, pressoché analfabeta, veniva aiutata nelle sue opere di carità da un gruppo di uomini e donne, fratelli spirituali, detti la "Bella Brigata". A questi stessi dettava le sue lettere, spesso dettandole contemporaneamente a più "scrivani". Scrisse circa 380 lettere, durante gli ultimi dieci anni della sua vita.

In February 1989, science fiction writer Piers Anthony, author of the Xanth series, received a moving letter. It came from a woman whose daughter, Jenny, was in a coma as a result of severe injuries caused by a drunk driver. She asked Anthony to write to Jenny, an avid fan of his, in the hope that a letter from him would evoke some response. Her request resulted in a series of warm, supportive, and humorous letters written weekly from Anthony to Jenny. These were read to the patient by her mother.

This was the American Civil War for many who lived it, overwhelming and ultimately tragic, viewed through the eyes of a courageous youth and an unforgettable young woman.

Fin 1902, un jeune homme de 20 ans envoie ses essais poétiques à Rainer Maria Rilke et lui demande de les juger. Une correspondance s'établit entre les deux hommes. Dix lettres constituent ce recueil, publié en 1929, après la mort de Rilke. "Vous me demandez si vos vers sont bons... Votre regard est tourné vers le dehors ; c'est cela qu'il ne faut plus faire. Personne ne peut vous apporter conseil ou aide, personne. Il n'est qu'un seul chemin."

Dans un sanatorium, en exil hors de la vie, une jeune femme reçoit une lettre de l'homme qu'elle aime : "Je me marie... notre amitié demeure..." Lucide, sobre, précis, le livre est sa réponse. Avec un esprit et une sensibilité à vif, aiguisés par la maladie, les insomnies et la proximité de la mort, l'auteure analyse ce qu'a été leur histoire. Se dessine alors le portrait d'une femme sensible, sincère, volontaire et d'une rare exigence qui, au plus fort de la passion, aura su obstinément préserver "un petit coin qui ne vibre pas".

Letters of a Nation is a unique and timeless collection of extraordinary letters spanning more than 350 years of American history, from the arrival of the Pilgrims to the present day. Many of the more than 200 letters are published here for the first time, and the correspondents are the celebrated and obscure, the powerful and powerless, including presidents, slaves, soldiers, prisoners, explorers, writers, revolutionaries, Native Americans, artists, religious and civil rights leaders, and people from all walks of life.

No one could have predicted even two years ago that an African American would take the oath of office as president of the United States in January of 2009. For many, the occasion marks the climax to the civil rights movement and the fulfillment of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream that Americans could be judged on the content of their character and not the color of their skin. This collection, with about 400 letters from Americans of all walks of life, is being created to stand as a symbol of this exciting moment in history.

The deepest currents of passion seldom break the surface of literature. Romantic classics abound; but however skilled a writer may be in verbalising an emotional experience, he cannot publicly evoke the heat of blood, the yearning of soul, bared in perfect intimacy between two beings. But letters can do this, and songs never meant to be sung by any but the lover, or the beloved.

Kennedy steered the nation away from the brink of nuclear war, initiated the first nuclear test ban treaty, created the Peace Corps, and launched American on its mission to the moon and beyond. JFK inspired a nation, particularly the massive generation of baby boomers, injecting hope and revitalizing faith in the American project. 2013 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of Kennedy's untimely death, a milestone to be marked by an avalanche of new books on his life and importance.

Says Charles Pooter, "I fail to see - because I do not happen to be a 'somebody' - why my diary should not be interesting." Surprisingly, Mr. Pooter's life is fascinating! The fascination is two-fold: firstly, his astounding arrogance that we should care about his domestic trivia and narcissistic scribblings. Secondly, we can all sympathize with (and wince at!) this ridiculous slave to convention.

Described as "the first blogger", Mary MacLane lived a tortured life, ahead of her time. Her beloved father died when she was a young child, and at the age of eight, her stepfather moved the family from its home in Winnipeg, Canada, to Montana in the United States, where young Mary had a hard time making friends. Her sensational autobiographical style of writing was considered scandalous, as she told of her bohemian lifestyle, feminist politics, and open bisexuality. 

Il diario epistolare (1877-1902) della più famosa eroina del selvaggio West americano, indirizzato alla figlia Janey, letto dalla calda e appassionata voce dell'attrice Lucia Schierano...

Every day, President Obama received 10,000 letters from ordinary American citizens. Every night, he read 10 of them before going to bed. This is the story of how they shaped his presidency. Together they reveal the diary of a nation. They wrote to Obama out of gratitude and desperation, in their darkest times of need, with anger, fear and respect. To Obama is an intimate look at one man's relationship with the American people, and at a time when empathy intersected with politics in the White House.

Celebrity is this decade's biggest obsession, and one person has had a ringside seat for the whole thing. As editor of celebrity bible Heat, Mark Frith has had more access to celebrities than anyone else. And now, for the first time, he's opening up his diaries - and no one is safe.

Goethes Briefwechsel mit Christiane Vulpius, seiner langjährigen Lebensgefährtin und späteren Ehefrau, ist ein echtes Juwel, literarischer Ausdruck einer innigen Liebe auf Augenhöhe. Petra Blossey (Hauptdarstellerin der Fernsehserie "Unter Uns") interpretiert als Christiane Vulpius empathisch gemeinsam mit ihrem Kollegen Stefan Bockelmann als Erzähler und Michael Kirch als Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Die einzigartigen Briefe wurden von Michail Krausnick ausgewählt und mit aufschlussreichen historischen Anmerkungen versehen.

From April 1942 to March 1944, Hélène Berr, a recent graduate of the Sorbonne, kept a journal that is both an intensely moving, intimate, harrowing, appalling document and a text of astonishing literary maturity. With her colleagues, she plays the violin and she seeks refuge from the everyday...

Der seinerzeit sehr populäre Schriftsteller Heinrich Seidel ("Leberecht Hühnchen") schildert hier seinen Lebensweg...