Malice in Wonderland
My Adventures in the World of Cecil Beaton
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Hodder & Stoughton
Published:13th May '21
Should be back in stock very soon
'A fascinating document, a window on to a lost world of glamour, grandeur and snobbery . . . an elegy, sad and comical, to a passing era' Craig Brown, MAIL ON SUNDAY
'I got as caught up in these distant but strangely evocative events as Vickers did . . . delicious in its way, recreating a lost world' Ysenda Maxtone Graham, THE TIMES
'A luxuriant trawl through the recovered past . . . extraordinary book' John Walsh, SUNDAY TIMES
'A quite brilliant record of a fading social and artistic milieu . . . a world to which Vickers is an unrivalled cicerone' Matthew Sturgis, THE OLDIE
'Vickers' diaries bristle with injudicious indiscretion...it is no small compliment to say that the biographer is here the equal of his subject' Michael Arditti, THE SPECTATOR
'Beaton himself was one of the finest 20th-century diarists. It is no small compliment to say that the biographer is here the equal of his subject' THE SPECTATOR
'Illuminating and brilliantly scurrilous' Marcus Field, THE STANDARD
'Scintillating' DAILY MAIL
'When Mr Vickers has his eye to the keyhole, we see a secret panorama' Dominic Green, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
'Vickers - as ever - is a warm and enthusiastic guide to a nearly lost world' TATLER.COM
The witty and perceptive diaries kept by Cecil Beaton's authorised biographer during his many fascinating encounters with extraordinary - often legendary - characters in his search for the real Cecil Beaton.
Hugo Vickers's life took a dramatic turn in 1979 when the legendary Sir Cecil Beaton invited him to be his authorised biographer. The excitement of working with the famous photographer was dashed only days later when Cecil Beaton died. But the journey had begun - Vickers was entrusted with Beaton's papers, diaries and, most importantly, access to his friends and contemporaries. The resulting book, first published in 1985, was a bestseller.
In Malice in Wonderland, Vickers shares excerpts from his personal diaries kept during this period. For five years, Vickers travelled the world and talked to some of the most fascinating and important social and cultural figures of the time, including...
A fascinating document, a window on to a lost world of glamour, grandeur and snobbery ... an elegy, sad and comical, to a passing era. -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *
A luxuriant trawl through the recovered past...extraordinary book -- John Walsh * Sunday Times *
'I got as caught up in these distant but strangely evocative events as Vickers did . . . delicious in its way, recreating a lost world' -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * The Times *
'Scintillating diaries' * Daily Mail *
'A quite brilliant record of a fading social and artistic milieu . . . a world to which Vickers is an unrivalled cicerone' -- Matthew Sturgis * The Oldie *
'A ripping read . . . [Vickers] has gathered unique knowledge and feeling for former social manners and morals; the ability to summon the "something in the air" of a recent but virtually forgotten past. It is described succinctly and unsentimentally in this book' * The Catholic Herald *
'Illuminating and brilliantly scurrilous' -- Marcus Field * The Standard *
'Vickers' diaries bristle with injudicious indiscretion...it is no small compliment to say that the biographer is here the equal of his subject' -- Michael Arditti * The Spectator *
ISBN: 9781529338027
Dimensions: 236mm x 162mm x 34mm
Weight: 600g
352 pages