Great Diaries

An illustrated guide to the finest literary and historically important diaries from ancient times to the present dayTravel back in time and witness both everyday life and great moments in history in this fascinating compilation of diaries through the ages.Bringing together historical and literary diaries, artists' sketchbooks, explorers' journals, and scientists' notebooks, Great Diaries provides an intimate insight into the lives and thoughts of some of the most interesting people of the last two thousand years. Discover what it was like to build a pyramid, sail the seas with Magellan, travel into the heart of Africa, or serve on the Western Front. Find out how writers and artists planned their masterpieces, and how scientists developed their groundbreaking theories.Arranged chronologically, Great Diaries takes you into the pages of the world's greatest diaries, notebooks, and letters, including those of Samuel Pepys, Henry-David Thoreau, the Goncourt brothers, Virginia Woolf, and Anne Frank. Stunning reproductions of the original notebooks and manuscripts are complemented by extracts and quotations, and illustrated features set the diaries in their cultural and historical context.Essential reading for everyone who is passionate about history and literature, Great Diaries provides a fascinating insight into the everyday lives, thoughts, and feelings of men and women through the centuries.

“This is a lushly illustrated look at the personal writing of some of the past's great thinkers, from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Charles Darwin to Frida Kahlo and Anne Lister. It's a diverse, varied list, ranging the centuries and continents, from 11th-century Japan to World War II, and the journals, notebooks and letters reproduced offer genuine insights into lives lived in other places and other times.”

BBC History Magazine

Professor Kate Williams is an author, historian, and broadcaster. She has written five history books, including England's Mistress and Rival Queens, and four historical novels. She is a regular on television and radio, presenting her own shows including The Stuarts, Inside Versailles and Restoration Home, and discussing social history, royal history, and politics and culture on shows such as Newsnight. CNN's royal historian, she is Professor of History at the University of Reading and gives lectures across the world.

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