Author | Diana Mosley |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Genre | Autobiography |
Publisher | (UK) Hamish Hamilton, (US) Times Books |
Publication date | 1977 and 2002 |
Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
Pages | 296 |
ISBN | 1-903933-20-X |
OCLC | 59464623 |
Followed by | The Duchess of Windsor |
A Life of Contrasts is the autobiography of Diana Mosley, one of the Mitford sisters, that was first published in 1977. In 2002, she released a revised edition of the book. Subtitles vary between UK and US editions, [1] [2] and the cover and title page.
In the autobiography, Mosley recounts her colourful past, including her marriage to Oswald Mosley, founder of the British Union of Fascists, her association with Nazi figures and her subsequent three-year internment under Defence Regulation 18B. [3] [4] She also recounts her friendships with leading literary figures Evelyn Waugh, Harold Acton, John Betjeman and Lytton Strachey. [5]
In the revised 2002 edition, Mosley describes several events which occurred following the original 1977 publication, such as the grief she experienced after her husband's death, her brain tumour as well as her reaction to international events and public figures. She also writes about her "secret" missions to Germany before war broke out, when she helped set up a radio station to raise funds for the BUF. [5] [6]
The book was generally well received by critics, who were impressed by Mosley's writing talents, although some were not satisfied that she gave a convincing explanation of her controversial political views. [7] This view has been mirrored by Mosley's biographer Jan Dalley and The New York Times critic, Janet Maslin. [8]
Laura Thompson appeared on BBC Radio 4's A Good Read to discuss the book and retold her experience in a column published by The Independent . According to Thompson it was "intensely fascinating to read the life of such a woman, especially when it was so well written." In contrast, the host of the show, Rosie Boycott said that "however charming it might be, it was also a repellent book." [3] [9]
The book also includes a selection of black and white photographs.
(original edition)
Index (289)
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet was a British aristocrat and politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member of parliament and later founded and led the British Union of Fascists (BUF).
The Mitford family is an aristocratic English family whose principal line had its seats at Mitford, Northumberland. Several heads of the family served as High Sheriff of Northumberland. A junior line, with seats at Newton Park, Northumberland, and Exbury House, Hampshire, descends via the historian William Mitford (1744–1827) and were twice elevated to the British peerage, in 1802 and 1902, under the title Baron Redesdale.
Nancy Freeman-Mitford was an English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "bright young things" on the London social scene in the inter-war period. She wrote several novels about upper-class life in England and France, and is considered a sharp and often provocative wit. She also has a reputation as a writer of popular historical biographies.
Jessica Lucy "Decca" Treuhaft was an English author, one of the six aristocratic Mitford sisters noted for their sharply conflicting politics.
Unity Valkyrie Freeman-Mitford was a British socialite known for her relationship with Adolf Hitler. Both in Great Britain and Germany, she was a prominent supporter of Nazism, fascism and antisemitism, and belonged to Hitler's inner circle of friends. After the declaration of World War II, she attempted suicide in Munich by shooting herself in the head. She survived but was badly injured. She was allowed safe passage back to England but never recovered from the extensive brain damage; she later died from meningitis related to the bullet lodged in her head.
Deborah Vivien Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, was an English aristocrat, writer, memoirist, and socialite. She was the youngest and last-surviving of the six Mitford sisters, who were prominent members of British society in the 1930s and 1940s.
Diana, Lady Mosley, known as Diana Guinness between 1929 and 1936, was a British aristocrat, fascist, writer and editor. She was one of the Mitford sisters and the wife of Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists.
Janet Paterson Frame was a New Zealand author. She is internationally renowned for her work, which includes novels, short stories, poetry, juvenile fiction, and an autobiography, and received numerous awards including being appointed to the Order of New Zealand, New Zealand's highest civil honour.
Autobiography of a Yogi is an autobiography of Paramahansa Yogananda published in 1946.
Andrew David Morton is an English journalist and writer who has published biographies of royal figures such as Diana, Princess of Wales, and celebrity subjects including Tom Cruise, Madonna, Angelina Jolie and Monica Lewinsky; several of his books have been unauthorised and contain contested assertions.
Janet R. Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as a Times film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, Maslin helped found the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, New York. She is president of its board of directors.
Hons and Rebels, originally published in the United States under the title Daughters and Rebels, is a 1960 autobiography by political activist Jessica Mitford, which describes her aristocratic childhood and the conflicts between her and her sisters Unity and Diana, who were ardent supporters of Nazism. Jessica was a supporter of Communism and eloped with her second cousin, Esmond Romilly, to fight with the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War, and Diana grew up to marry Sir Oswald Mosley, the leader of the British Union of Fascists. Unity befriended Nazi leader Hitler, who praised her as an ideal of Aryan beauty.
Frances Victoria Osborne is an English author. She has written two biographies and one novel. She was the first wife of George Osborne, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer.
An Autobiography is the title of the recollections of crime writer Agatha Christie published posthumously by Collins in the UK and by Dodd, Mead & Company in the US in November 1977, almost two years after the writer's death in January 1976. The UK edition retailed at £7.95 and the US edition at $15.00. It is by some considerable margin the longest of her works, the UK first edition running to 544 pages. It was translated and published in Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Hungarian and Spanish.
The American Way of Death is an exposé of abuses in the funeral home industry in the United States, written by Jessica Mitford and published in 1963. An updated revision, The American Way of Death Revisited, largely completed by Mitford just before her death in 1996, appeared in 1998.
David Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, was a British peer, soldier, and landowner. He was the father of the Mitford sisters, in whose various novels and memoirs he is depicted.
Wonderful Today, subtitled The Autobiography, is the 2007 autobiography by English former fashion model and photographer Pattie Boyd, written with journalist and broadcaster Penny Junor. It was published by Headline Review in Britain, on 23 August 2007, and by Harmony Books in the United States, where it was titled Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me. Beginning with her childhood in Kenya, the book covers Boyd's modelling career in London during the 1960s, her marriage to and divorce from Beatle George Harrison and later marriage and divorce of Harrison's best friend, Eric Clapton. The book's title is in reference to Clapton's 1977 song "Wonderful Tonight", which he wrote about Boyd.
The Pursuit of Laughter is a 2008 collection of diaries, articles, reviews and portraits by Diana Mosley (née Mitford). The book was published by Gibson Square and edited by Martin Rynja. Mosley's sister, Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, provides the introduction. The title is a homage to another Mitford sister's book, Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love.
The European was a limited-circulation political and cultural magazine published between 1953 and 1959. It was edited by Diana Mosley of the Mitford family. As Diana Mitford, Mosley had been one of the bright young things and had cultivated friendships with several of the contributors to the magazine. These included Ezra Pound, Henry Williamson, and Roy Campbell. The magazine was published by Euphorion Books, a publishing company formed by Mosley and her husband, Sir Oswald Mosley, founder of the pre-war British Union of Fascists.
Bossypants is an autobiographical comedy book written by the American comedian Tina Fey. The book topped The New York Times Best Seller list, and stayed there for five weeks upon its release. As of November 2014, the book has sold over 2.5 million copies since its debut, according to Nielsen BookScan. Additionally, Fey's Grammy nominated narration of the audiobook has sold over 150,000 copies on Audible.com. A paperback reprint edition was released in January 2012, from Reagan Arthur Books, an imprint of Little, Brown. The front cover features hand model and actor Joe Rosario.