About this title: This biography tells the true story behind the gaiety and frivolity of the six Mitford daughters - and the facts are as sensational as a novel. There is Nancy, whose bright social existence masked a doomed obsessional love, which soured her success; Pam, a countrywoman maried to one of the best brains in Europe; Diana, an iconic beauty, who was already married when, at 22, she fell in love with Oswald Moseley, leader of the British fascists; Unity, who, romantically in love with Hitler, became a member of his inner circle before shooting herself in the temple when World War II was declared; ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: First Edition; First Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, London
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780316858687ISBN:0316858684
Description: Very Good in Very Good-dust jacket. 0316858684. Slight wear to dust jacket, no tears; Signed by author on title page, separate gift inscription also on title page, not by author. Clean, tight, unmarked book, not ex-lib; 416 pages; Signed by Author. read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Abacus
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780349115054ISBN:0349115052
Description: Good. No Jacket. Used book. Text clean with endpages showing marks. Soft cover has marks with scuffing. Corners bumped. Even if the six daughters, born between 1904 and 1920, of the charming, eccentric David, Lord Redesdale and his wife Sydney had been quite ordinary women, the span of their lives.....and the status to which they were born, would have made their story a fascinating one. But Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Decca and Debo, 'the mad, mad Mitfords', were, and are, far from ordinary. ... read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Little, Brown, London
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780316858687ISBN:0316858684
Description: Fine in fine dust jacket. (A63_5/9)Book is in NEW condition. 611 p., [24] p. of plates: ill.; 25 cm. Includes bibliography and index. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Abacus
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780349115054ISBN:0349115052
Description: Very Good. No Jacket. 5" x 7.75" P/B. 611 pages, condition is very good. Even if the six daughters, born between 1904 and 1920, of the charming, eccentric David, Lord Redesdale and his wife Sydney had been quite ordinary women, the span of their lives encompassing the most traumatic century in Britain's history and the status to which they were born, would have made their story a fascinating one. But Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Decca and Debo, 'the mad, mad Mitfords', were, and are, far from ... read more
Description: Acceptable. Ships from the UK. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Your purchase also supports literacy charities. read more
Edition: First edition
Binding: Book
Publisher: Little, Brown & Co
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780316858687ISBN:0316858684
Description: Fine in fine jacket. Size: , [24] p. of plates: ill.; 25; 611 pages. With plates. Dustjacket. Light wear to spine, covers & corners. Slight wear to dustjacket. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Abacus
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780349115054ISBN:0349115052
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Little, Brown
Date Published: 13/09/2001
ISBN-13:9780316858687ISBN:0316858684
Description: Used-Good. Book in good or better condition. Dispatched same day from warehouse. Please email with any questions for quick response. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Abacus
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780349115054ISBN:0349115052
Description: Good. Our aim is to create an overall satisfying buying experience for our customers through the provision of affordable books and a personalized approach to customer service. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Little, Brown
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780316858687ISBN:0316858684
Description: Good. Our aim is to create an overall satisfying buying experience for our customers through the provision of affordable books and a personalized approach to customer service. read more
Description: New. PLEASE NOTE: All books are promptly imported from the UK using DHL or Royal Mail international mail WITH TRACKING NUMBER. D elivery is typically 5-10 working days. Please do not select expedited shipping. Professional and reliable bookseller (est.1987). read more
Description: New. We are no longer able to guarantee delivery by Christmas. Tells the true story behind the gaiety and frivolity of the six Mitford daughters. The biography reveals their extraordinary lives: Nancy's doomed obsessional love; the already-married Diana's love for Oswald Moseley; and Jessica's schoolroom declaration that she was a Communist. ISBN10: 0349115052. read more
"This book would have been fascinating even if it were just a chronicle of the lives of the English aristocracy, and how they changed over the course of the 20th century. When you add to that the Mitford sisters' impressive talents in their own right and the way they interacted with such a cross-section of world events, it becomes a really engrossing read.
One thing about this book that I suspect differentiates this from other Mitford books is that Lovell is fairly politically even-handed (and in some ways just not very interested in politics). This lets her write with equal sympathy about all of the sisters across the political spectrum, which is a very admirable trait for a biographer, but will probably make most readers uncomfortable at one point or another."
"This bookwas pretty interesting... I am fascinated by family dynamics (especially when the members are eccentric and idiosyncratic) I found the insights into the dissipated British aristocracy especially interesting.
Thinking back over a persons life and legacy fascinates me. I love to read biographies, to think of my own life as a work in progress. "She sometimes sat at the computer and recorded her ideas about what she had read, and though these ideas were often carelessly formed and tongue-in-cheek, they give us a wonderful window into her interior life as a frustrated genius...""
"What an absolutely fascinating book about an absolutely fascinating family. I had heard of Nancy Mitford and her novels, The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate but nothing about her eccentric life and her family's lives. In fact, I don't know what compelled me to buy this book back when it was first published. Once I started, I couldn't put it down, like a great novel. I guess, having three sisters myself, I was intrigued by a book about six sisters. The author does a superb job of tracing the lives of each, from birth to old age or death. You can see the formative events or the personality traits that caused each to become who they are. Unity's obsession with Hitler was fascinating. She would go to extreme lengths to get close to him. You can see why her family might like him--he did treat Unity very well, especially after her suicide attempt. Diana annoyed me a lot. She was so loyal to her husband, Oswald Mosley, despite his beliefs and his affairs. She never veered from her belief in the superiority of fascism and always defended her husband's involvement in it, even when it was clear how deluded they were. She's a terrible role model for the women of today. Decca was a nasty piece-of-work (so was Nancy at times) but you had to admire her courage and feistiness. I was sorry for this book to end and want to read even more about the Mitfords."
"I could understand easily how this book would be passed up by someone looking for their next read, especially if they'd never heard of the Mitfords. And yet there are several aspects that might interest a casual book-shopper thumbing through biographies:
* The dynamics of sisters. * The English gentry. * Dictatorish fathers. * Pre-WWI England. * The rich are different from you and me. * Nazis. * Fascists. * Writers.
The author manages to be sympathetic toward the family, even though several of them do not really deserve it (i.e. Diana), and create an interesting picture of a well-to-do English family with no real direction or values, and how they tore asunder."
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