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Cecil Beaton
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The Wandering Years: 1922-39 (Cecil Beaton's Diaries Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Cecil Beaton (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 81 ratings
A classic six-volume memoir of the twentieth century, spanning through the Second World War, the Golden Age of Hollywood and the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Perfect for fans of THE CROWN, LOVE, CECIL, fashion photography, artist’s memoirs, and twentieth-century history.

Sir Cecil Beaton (1904 –1980) was an English fashion, portrait and war photographer, painter, diarist and Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer.

For almost as long as he could write, Cecil Beaton kept his diaries. They accumulated year after year, and from a formidable pile of notebooks he extracted enough to fill six volumes.

This first volume covers seventeen years from 1922 to 1939 and is a fascinating and disarming book.

He describes his friendships with famous men and women, artists, writers, actors, film stars and celebrated socialites.

Few franker autobiographical documents have seen the light of day.

THE WANDERING YEARS is the first volume of Cecil Beaton’s Diaries, a personal memoir of the twentieth century, covering famous artists and photographers, political figures, socialites, the rich & famous and movie stars.

'Wise, witty and perceptive' – New York Herald Tribune

‘Fascinating and well-written, and deserves to be read as an insight into a period and of someone who was very much part of it’ – Western Mail

‘The Wandering Years is certainly Mr Beaton’s best book … The diaries belong to the classical case-histories of youthful struggles, of the instinct which guides the misfit to salvation’ – Sunday Times

‘It is an enormously illuminating book, about a multi-talented man with an apparently limitless reserve of energy’ – Tatler

‘Moment after moment in The Wandering Years springs to life with remarkable colours and clarity and it is continually apparent that Mr Beaton’s talent for what he modestly calls his “snap-shots” extends equally well to his pen as to his camera’ – Time and Tide

‘An elegant and witty recreator of the period scene’ – Vogue

‘He has a warm appreciation of beauty, a sense of elegance and display, a gentle wit, a thorough understanding of his craft’ – Observer

‘One of the unassailables of our time’ – Daily Mail

***PLEASE NOTE THIS NEW EDITION DOES NOT INCLUDE THE PHOTOGRAPHS PRESENT IN THE ORIGINAL HARDBACK EDITION***

CECIL BEATON’S DIARIES SERIES
BOOK 1: THE WANDERING YEARS: 1922-39
BOOK 2: THE YEARS BETWEEN: 1939-44
BOOK 3: THE HAPPY YEARS: 1944-8
BOOK 4: THE STRENUOUS YEARS: 1948-55
BOOK 5: THE RESTLESS YEARS: 1955-63
BOOK 6: THE PARTING YEARS: 1963-74
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  1. Book 1 of 6
    Cecil Beaton's Diaries
  2. Print length
    474 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    March 15, 2018
  5. File size
    2.2 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B079GBJ7MC
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sapere Books (March 15, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 15, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2.2 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 474 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 81 ratings

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Cecil Beaton

Cecil Beaton

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
81 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • df
    5.0 out of 5 stars Just wonderful!
    Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Cecil is a dream. Read the entire diary.
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  • james smith
    5.0 out of 5 stars well written
    Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    great history of one of the most influential times in american culture!
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  • Paris fan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Through the eyes and ears of an Englishman in England, New York and beyond!
    Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Entertaining memoir told in Beaton's very readable style. It's the most fun when there are historical figures that one recognizes. There are also lots of people that I had no idea who they were though there are some footnotes identifying some of these people. His chronicles of visits to the US are especially good.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • peggy
    3.0 out of 5 stars Information on the period leading up to the war was good.
    Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Interesting characters.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Wendy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Starts slow then WOW I couldn't put it down
    Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2021
    I got this memoir due to my new interest in the Jazz Age. At first it started slow, school days being what they are, I nearly put it down! I am so glad I didnt. Most people will recognize many names of Cecils friends :
    Picasso, G Stein, Bloomsbury Group, many British and European Royal, the great peers of England and their children, Vanderbilt, Fargo, T Bank head, just to name a few, however there were many people I have never heard of. This did not detract from the stories for me at all, as it sometimes can. I became so absorbed in this mans life it was like being there hidden in a book or papers watching and listening, observing all. I have just begun the 2nd in there 6 book series, the years of WWII. I am so grateful to have found these books and come to know this man. So many of his thoughts and insights have set me thinking of my own life, my world as it is - Jan 2021. I believe my mind and sensibilities have improved. I read this in 2-1/2 days, it was too good to put down. Each book is affordable and free with KU. Just get past the school days, which may be of interest to you, and the world of the 20's will open up and give you a peek
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Annie W
    4.0 out of 5 stars A More Selfish Lightweight would be hard to find
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 14, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Well, if you're looking for 'warts and all', they're there aplenty. The diaries begin showing a young man who throws away opportunities many would have given their eye teeth for, despises his family, detests his father, who gave up so much to enable the young Beaton to laze his way through university, and spends all his time trying to be a 'gay young thing' with the fashionable 'in' crowd. There are names dropped, but many of them merit more detailed footnotes than he's given them to mean much today. Bearing in mind Mr Beaton must have selected the diary entries he wanted to publish, he's either totally unaware of the image he creates, or delights in showing the reader his utter absorption in himself. There are some interesting snippets, including his engagement for immediate pre-wedding photographs of Wallis Simpson and the King-into-the-Duke-of-Windsor, but the fascination of these diaries is the author's tiny world of 'high society', and almost complete ignorance of world events and utter indifference to the plight of others less indulged. Even the deaths of close family members seem to be no more than a passing blip on the surface of his ego. Am I going to read the next volume? Yes, if only to discover whether he can ever find anyone else to be as remotely interesting as he finds himself.
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  • Nick
    1.0 out of 5 stars A cheap print by Amazon
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    A cheap version by Amazon badly printed like a lot of the books I have ordered - when did Amazon start doing this? It should be made clear and I will stop buying books from Amazon
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