a life of contrasts

I just couldn't relate to it. Irish Times 'Often pure Wodehouse.' by Diana Mosley (Mitford), Selina Hastings (ISBN: 9781906142148) from Amazon's Book Store. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. Boston University Libraries. Maybe part of it was due the massive changes over the last century between the 'haves and the have nots' and the fact that it was accepted that the upper classes were just that and better than those around them. We work hard to protect your security and privacy. I suppose that is what got hold of me: she was a celebrated beauty who married into great wealth, and then when her children were very young, she left everything for Oswald Mosley, who started the Britain Union of Fascists (BUF). Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. An amazing life! A fascinating book.Written in superb English.The real story of an undomitable, elegant, clever and definitely English lady. I arrived in the Philippines just over three weeks ago, bleary eyed and sleep deprived after over 16 hours of traveling. A Life of Contrasts is the autobiography of Diana Mitford (sister of novelist Nancy Mitford, Nazi-sympathiser Unity Mitford, journalist Jessica Mitford, and memoirist Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire) that was first published by in 1977. An autobiography of Diana Mitford describing how it came about that both Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler adored her, and Evelyn Waugh and Oswald Mosley fell in love with her. It also inspired me to read the autobiography of Oswald Mosley which I've now moved on to. Valerie Grove, The Times 'Martini-dry wit.' World Jewry should have sorted the Jews out, what were the Germans supposed to do?! Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2017. The Mitfords were a fascinating family. A Life of Contrasts. I determined to read Diana Mitford's life in her own words after reading Laura Thompson's, I read this book because we've been watching Peaky Blinders on TV & there is a time overlap with her marriage to Oswald Moseley so I thought there might be some detail about the 1930s in the book. “touche à tout’, and until I was twelve or so”, http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/misc/mosley_20031114.shtml. Sonia Delaunay: a life of contrasts. Diana Mosley: Mitford Beauty, British Fascist, Hitler's Angel, The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family, The Pursuit of Laughter: Essays, Reviews and Diary, Take Six Girls: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters, Hons and Rebels (New York Review Books Classics), In Tearing Haste: Letters between Deborah Devonshire and Patrick Leigh Fermor. Navigate; Linked Data; Dashboard; Tools / Extras; Stats; Share . WikiProject Books (Rated Start-class) This article is within the scope of WikiProject Books. But, of course, there are more cerebral contrasts. Widely admired as a young woman, she was famous for her beauty and charisma, but also for her sense of loyalty and duty. AbeBooks.com: A Life of Contrasts (9781906142148) by Mitford, Diana; Hastings, Selina and a great selection of similar New, Used and Collectible Books available now at great prices. The descriptions of Farve, & Mitford family life, are as delightful as ever; this is a really interesting, & sometimes a teensy bit disturbing, look into this woman's life. I have read every book I can find on them. To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. I read this book because we've been watching Peaky Blinders on TV & there is a time overlap with her marriage to Oswald Moseley so I thought there might be some detail about the 1930s in the book. I have read and loved Hons and Rebels, other biographies of the family and a few of Nancy Mitford's novels. Not very good, not very bad. The Mitfords were a fascinating family. Initially I felt it was strange that she devoted just a few paragraphs to her affair with Mosley and subsequent divorce but in the last couple of chapters written shortly before her death, she went into much greater detail about the scandal and how it affected the people around her. Start by marking “A Life of Contrasts: An Autobiography” as Want to Read: Error rating book. There was some correlation but not quite enough to round out my understanding fully of those times. And of course he would have continued to have affairs for the rest of his life--but Diana was above all that in her...outer space. Fascinating book, I had read books by Deborah and Jessica Mitford and enjoyed them both, but this one even more. I bought this book on a recommendation/review I read and I am sorely disappointed. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 13, 2019. Read 50 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. It does round out the canon of books on the sisters...one way or another! ‎'Beautifully written.' Afterwards she floats about Europe with her family, and we slowly hear about each character’s death, until she is left living in Paris - still in regular contact with her surviving sister Debo (Decca - the commie - isn’t mentioned that much). Laura Thompson, A Good Read, BBC Radio 4 'Brilliant.' The charismatic Princess not only brought colour and sex appeal into an otherwise colourless royal family, but did much to help bring the monarchy and its attitudes into the modern world. I agree with other readers that there is "none so blind as do not want to see" element in the book by her selective omission of information and denial about a dreadful and very dark period in history. Vachudova’s parents had convinced the authorities to let them travel outside the country for a year. It is interesting to read about her meetings with Hitler and how he behaved from day to day, but I think she goes too far in stating that he was just a normal sort of bloke. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. I first ran across this family when I found the book written by her sister Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire. She was the daughter of a labourer who went on to take the worlds of art and fashion by storm. March 1st 1977 She is brought up in the countryside with her 5 sisters and 1 brother. However I found her a bit of a selfish person. Please try again. Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. Very guarded about her private life and the only emotions expressed were about war and relatives. And I can see how easy it is for individuals to take that stand (& to honest at moments I did as well), but she has already rationalized what she did in her mind. I thought that it would be interesting to read, first hand, the story of one of the Mitford Sisters but this was quite ridiculous. I recommend it. She was married in Germany at the home of Dr. Goebbles with Hitler present. She divorced Bryan Guinness when she was 22 years old so she could be at the beck and call of the Fascist leader Oswald Mosley, regardless of the fact that he was married; her justification being, "...He (Mosley) was never faithful to her (his wife), so his wife would think nothing of it; to her I was just another girl he fancied." After Lopok°and an established pattern was broken dif, Quentin Bell gives a fair account of the e see ficult situation that ensued. Wilson, Sunday Telegraph 'It has all her charm.' Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. A Life of Contrasts is the autobiography of Diana Mitford (sister of novelist Nancy Mitford, Nazi-sympathiser Unity Mitford, journalist Jessica Mitford, and memoirist Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire) that was first published by in 1977. Diana Mitford Mosley was a selfish, racist snob. This however, was a disappointment. I enjoyed the parts where she complained in a sharp, witty way, and the overall views on politics and the human condition. After 20 years of career and a life of contrasts, the musician tries to understand the duality of living in two countries without permanently staying in one or the other. Evening Standard 'A Life of Contrasts is a candid, page… Nothing special. I liked the political analysis surrounding events leading up tothe war from a different perspective to more jingoistic supporters of Churchill etc. A Life of Contrasts: The Autobiography - Kindle edition by Mosley (Diana Mosley), Lady, Diana Mitford. Feel I now need to read a biography of her... A bit like Lawrence of Arabia. But as Hugh Thomas said in his review it's quite disconcerting when "the characters in a witty narrati. She was born in a different time, so I will not judge. Diana was considered to by many at the time to be the most attractive and desirable of her sisters in their social set. This is a terrible read. Being interested in the mentality of fascists and Nazis, I picked it up and read it immediately. This was the undertone to the who. It'd be servant's entrance lol! She neglects to mention Mosley's serial adultery, or that Nancy denounced her which led to her imprisonment. A.N. Everyday low … She goes to pre-war Germany and has a social relationship with Hitler and other prominent Nazis. Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2016. Apparently they all with the exception of the brother were lovely women and attracted quite a bit of attention. Find A Life Of Contrasts by Mosley, Diana at Biblio. Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2018. I find it so hard to believe such people exist. Fascinating stuff. One thing I found interesting was the great sense of sadness the chapters seemed to take on when looking at the 60s onwards - the losses of friends, family and then her parents, Nancy and Mosley obviously had a huge impact. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. Not sure it's enhanced my appreciation of twentieth century social politics! That doesn't make the book bad though, what makes it bad is. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. I don't mind name-dropping but there is no explanation behind most of these names, the fact that she assumes you should know who they all are only makes her more of a snob. She admits that the she didn't agree with people being killed in concentration camps but glosses over it by saying that, of course, the Russians did far worse and even the British had concentration cam, Having read Anne de Courcy's biography of Diana I really wanted to read about her life in her own words. Princess Margaret was one of the most controversial royal figures of the twentieth century. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published In 1977, she published her autobiography, A Life of Contrasts, and two more biographies in the 1980s. The way she describes her first marriage, divorce and new relationship do come off as cold, but only due to the details about other (to me) insignificant things. This is interesting for her place at the sidelines of history and also for the astonishing lack of repentence. To disconnect to reconnect. Marie, but moving to Sudbury by the time he could walk, the middle of three children was athletic enough in his youth to share starting pitching duties on very talented Copper Cliff baseball teams, squads that included the likes of John Santi, Ian Symington, Jeff Sirkka and others. Sadly, we’re all victims to the 24/7 nature of our world. It's deeply unfair to condemn on and turn a blind eye to all the others jus because not so many blockbuster movies have been made about them. It was an interesting read - she was a very witty writer and obviously had a fascinating life, but I found it difficult to read in parts as she was always totally unrepentant about her fascism. She died shortly afterwards. Uncommonly good collectible and rare books from uncommonly good booksellers Please try again. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 10, 2015. Too many unfamiliar names, & the French & German needed translations (certainly the German for me), & she really is completely unrepentant. Mail I didn't mind the French phrases as I understood most of them, but oh, my dear.. the name dropping was simply too, too ghastly! Be the first to ask a question about A Life of Contrasts. Irish Times 'Often pure Wodehouse.' Jump to navigation Jump to search. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 12, 2019. I'm not sure why but this book frustrated and annoyed me more than anything I have read - either in the press or as a book. I don't know if she really figured out who she was beyond her traditional female roles...mother & wife. Diana was, through no fault of her own, painfully and tediously upper class. Noam Chomsky Lectures on Modern-Day American Imperialism: Middle East and Beyond - Duration: 2:00:01. When his wife died, he began a long affair with her YOUNGER sister, while Diana waited for him in her small London home. The last Mitford book of any significance left for me, & reveals Diana to be perhaps the most interesting - but far from the most likeable (I think Debo gets that nod) - of the sisters. This book took me a life time to read. I've read both Nancy and Jessica's more or less fictionalised accounts of their childhood, so when I found this book, I thought it might be interesting to see what their infamously pro-Nazi sister had to say. She was imprisoned without charge at Brixton prison when her youngest son (with Mosley) was an infant, and was held for 3-1/2 years for activities that were deemed hostile. Topic. The way she describes her first marriage, divorce and new relationship do come off as cold, but only due to the details about other (to me) insignificant things. She died shortly afterwards. Good read despite her choosing to omit historical facts we all know to be very grim. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Share. Before reading this, I had no idea who Diana Mitford was and frankly after reading this I'm still not sure if I do. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. The book takes you through the entirety of Diana’s life - from pre-WW1 nursery room to living in Paris post- 9/11. So many famous people who were her friends. I listened to her Desert Island Discs afterwards - astonishing confidence in her views. But her political views were difficult to accept- the glossing over of the horrors of nazism were unacceptable and justifications were hollow. 9781906142148 ) from Amazon 's book Store from a different time, so i will judge. Written with authority and insight, Princess Margaret a life of Contrasts says a warm 'Hello ' all! 2, 2018 i doubt she 'd ever invite me into her home through entirety! You keep track of books you want to search in Gibson Square books Ltd edition, Hardcover.... To others Mitford ), Selina: 9781906142148 ) from Amazon 's book.! 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