Description
Antonia Fraser's memoir describes growing up in the 1930s and 1940s but its real concern is with her growing love of History. She was born Antonia Pakenham, the eldest of the eight children of the future Lord and Lady Longford. Evacuation at the beginning of the war to a romantic Elizabethan manor house near Oxford was an inspiration for historical imaginings. There were adventures in Anglo-Ireland at Dunsany Castle and Pakenham Hall, each offering her treasured links to the past which became private obsessions.
A job in publishing, by a fortunate coincidence, followed Oxford University and the book ends with the publishing of Mary Queen of Scots which became a worldwide bestseller to general amazement (including the author's).
This magical memoir, told with inimitable humour and style, will take many readers back to their own discovery of History. It is an unforgettable account of one person's journey towards becoming a writer - and a historian.
A job in publishing, by a fortunate coincidence, followed Oxford University and the book ends with the publishing of Mary Queen of Scots which became a worldwide bestseller to general amazement (including the author's).
This magical memoir, told with inimitable humour and style, will take many readers back to their own discovery of History. It is an unforgettable account of one person's journey towards becoming a writer - and a historian.
