Private Letters

Robert E. Lee is remembered by history as a tragic figure, stoic and brave but distant and enigmatic. Using dozens of previously unpublished letters as departure points, Pryor produces a stunning personal account of Lee's military ability, his beliefs, and his time, shedding new light on every aspect of the complex and contradictory general's life story.

Howard Hughes was a true American original: legendary lover, record-setting aviator, award-winning film producer, talented inventor, ultimate eccentric, and, for much of his lifetime, the richest man in the United States. His desire for privacy was so fierce and his isolation so complete that even now, 25 years after his death, inaccurate stories continue to circulate, and many have been published as fact. Hughes explodes the illusion of his life and exposes the man behind the myth. He was a playboy whose sexual exploits with Hollywood stars were legendary.

Trust is a delicate thing, and no one knows that better than Rosalind Thorne. Lady Melbourne has entrusted her with recovering a packet of highly sensitive private letters stolen from her desk. The contents of these letters hold great interest for the famous poet Lord Byron, who had carried on a notorious public affair with Lady Melbourne's daughter-in-law, the inconveniently unstable Lady Caroline Lamb. Rosalind is to take up residence in Melbourne House, posing as Lady Melbourne's confidential secretary. There, she must discover the thief and regain possession of the letters.

Here are some of the best of Churchill’s letters, many of a more personal and intimate nature, presented in chronological order, with a preface to each letter explaining the context. The recipients include a vast range of people, including his schoolmaster, his American grandmother and former President Eisenhower. They are taken from within the Churchill Archive in Cambridge, where there is a mass of Churchill’s correspondence. Several of the letters included have never appeared in book form before.

The never-before-seen correspondence of John le Carré, one of the most important novelists of our generation, is collected in this beautiful volume. During his lifetime, le Carré wrote numerous letters to writers, spies, politicians, artists, actors and public figures. This collection is a treasure trove, revealing the late author's humor, generosity, and wit—a side of him many listeners have not previously seen.

The distinguished British scholar-diplomat Ernest Mason Satow (1843-1929) was one of the most prominent and pre-eminent Japanologists in the Victorian era when the subject was newly created as Japan began to open its doors to foreigners from the mid-1850s. He shared this honour with Basil Hall Chamberlain (1850-1935) and the two addressees of the letters reproduced here by permission of the U.K. National Archives: co-worker William George Aston (1841-1911) and Frederick Victor Dickins (1838-1915). This book is part of a series in which Ian Ruxton is making some of the extensive Satow Papers...

These letters, in the form of a frank and amusing diary, were written by a private in Wellington's army who fought throughout the Napoleonic Wars. Private Wheeler's record covers the Peninsular Campaign, keeping order during the coronation of Louis XVIII (whom he called 'an old bloated poltroon') and his later posting to Corfu.

When genealogist Jefferson Tayte is hired to prove the identity of a black sheep in his client’s family tree, he unwillingly finds himself drawn into a murder investigation with nothing more to go on than a 150-year-old letter and a connection to a legendary ruby that has been missing for generations. As more letters are mysteriously left for him, Tayte becomes immersed in a centuries-old tale of greed, murder and forbidden love that takes his research from the wilds of the Scottish Highlands to the colour and heat of colonial India. A dark secret is buried in Jaipur. But why is it having such deadly repercussions in the present?

John le Carré was one of the greatest novelists of his generation but also had an extraordinary life, from his childhood with a con man father to his inimitable career as a writer. From his involvement in the Cold War, time in Berlin, travels to Vietnam and engagement with world leaders, his experiences were truly remarkable. This collection of letters reveals John le Carré—the man, the writer and his world—for the first time and most intimately.

While Jazz Callender is recuperating from nearly losing her life during their first case for the mysterious Cross Society, Lucia Garza hires a new investigator to their firm: none other than Ben McCarthy. The former Kansas City cop has finally been exonerated of murder, and just in time. Jazz and Lucia have received a new red letter. But instead of instructions for a high-priority case, this missive contains nothing but a warning: "One of you has made a mistake." And it's on letterhead from the Cross Society's major adversary in a psychic war.

A seven-volume collection containing some of the most fascinating journals and letters to have been written in the last two hundred and fifty years, all performed in a dramatised setting.

Lincoln comes alive through the reading of his speeches, essays, and other writings, including "The Gettysburg Address" and "The Second Inaugural Address".

It is 2001 and the police constable’s girlfriend is murdered in a fit of jealous rage. When the constable realizes what he has done, he manages an elaborate cover-up. Only one person knows the truth. Flash forward to 2012. Anne Brown is still running her late uncle, Bill Darby’s, detective agency after spending four or five years as his assistant. One day, the postman delivers an eleven year-old letter. The letter is addressed to her uncle from a woman named Carolyn Jollimore.

The never-before-seen correspondence of John le Carré, one of the most important novelists of our generation, are collected in this beautiful volume. During his lifetime, le Carré wrote numerous letters to writers, spies, politicians, artists, actors, and public figures. This collection is a treasure trove, revealing the late author's humor, generosity, and wit—a side of him many listeners have not previously seen.

When a letter arrives from a deceased client asking them to retrieve a cheap china doll, the game turns fatal as Martin Davies, Della Rose, and their team find more dead bodies than answers. When the killer decides that Della and Martin are getting too close, the couple needs to find the murderer before their fun comes to a permanent end.

This was the American Civil War for many who lived it, overwhelming and ultimately tragic, viewed through the eyes of a courageous youth and an unforgettable young woman.

A selection of letters written home by a private soldier who served in Iraq, Palestine and other parts of the Middle East during the Second World War. Anthony Rawson was born in October 1919 and grew up in the family home in Watford. When war broke out in 1939 he was working as a gas fitter for the Watford and St. Albans Gas Company. He joined the army in June 1940 but because of his poor eyesight he was not classed as a combatant. Instead he became a fitter, later a vehicle mechanic in what was then the Royal Army Ordnance Corps and spent the next 5 years in the Middle East.