Since ancient times, accounts of supernatural activity have mystified us. Ghost stories as we know them did not develop until the late nineteenth century, but the restless dead haunted the premodern imagination in many forms, as recorded in historical narratives, theological texts, and personal letters. The Penguin Book of the Undead teems with roving hordes of dead warriors, corpses trailed by packs of barking dogs, moaning phantoms haunting deserted ruins, evil spirits emerging from burning carcasses in the form of crows, and zombies with pestilential breath.
Spanning from the Hebrew scriptures to the Roman Empire, the Scandinavian sagas to medieval Europe, the Protestant Reformation to the Renaissance, this beguiling array of accounts charts our relationship with spirits and apparitions, wraiths and demons over fifteen hundred years, showing the evolution in our thinking about the
ability of dead souls to return to the realm of the living--and to warn us about what awaits us in the afterlife.
Frighteningly compelling ... the feel and pace of a court-room thriller. As it approaches its climax, you almost believe this dogged, decent man is going to win through ... superbly researched and tautly written
—— Dominic Sandbrook , Daily Mail Book of the WeekTremendous ... Ryback's tenacity as forensic researcher and huge storytelling flair make this a compelling page-turner
—— IndependentGripping – and thoroughly chilling … The haunting question at the heart of this book is this: if there had been a few more like Hartinger … was there any way the Nazi terror might have been averted? … a fascinating reconstruction
—— TelegraphThe genius of the book is to present Ryback’s thorough research as a kind of duel between Hartinger and Wäckerle, adopting some of the conventions of modern crime drama … few [Germans] have been held up as war heroes. Ryback’s brilliant book makes a powerful case for honouring Hartinger, an honest man in dishonest times
—— Roger Boyes , The TimesGripping … anyone who thinks that Nazism came to power legally and without violence needs to read this account
—— GuardianForensic, unflinching and utterly compelling … the story of the first killings at Dachau has scarcely been more urgent
—— Glasgow Sunday HeraldAn extraordinary, gripping and edifying story told extraordinarily well. I read it with a sense of amazement at the capacity of one good man to stand tall in the face of evil
—— Richard Bernstein, author of Dictatorship of VirtueAmazing … This is history come alive in your hands
—— Robert Littell, author of The CompanyHorrifying and heartbreaking … By recounting such striking heroism, he allows us at least to ponder whether, had more good Germans come forward, it all might just have been stopped
—— David Margolick, author of Beyond GloryInspiring ... In the gathering shadow of the Holocaust, Josef Hartinger's dogged decency may redeem the German race
—— Geoffrey Robertson QC, author of Crimes Against HumanityAll the more startling and important for bringing to life an episode so little known
—— Raymond Bonner, author of Anatomy of InjusticeFinely researched and deeply disturbing
—— Alan Riding, author of And the Show Went OnGripping, revelatory account
—— BooksellerAbsorbing
—— Nicholas Shakespeare , Daily TelegraphInspiring
—— PsychologiesTold in a light and humorous way, Elkin’s cultural meander provides plenty of food for thought.
—— FranceA fascinating way to write about George Sand, Virginia Woolf and others, plus Elkin’s own artistic explorations of Paris, London, Venice and Tokyo. It makes us all want to be London wanderers.
—— Culture Whisper, Book of the YearElkin delivers a prococative yet light and humorous read, mingling her own memories with those of the female artists she portrays.
—— French Property NewsWith this book, Elkin hopes to track down the female equivalent – the flâneuse – to ‘see where a woman might fit into the cityscape’… It is a timely effort: in the Trump era of manspreading and male privilege, it is especially vital that we pay attention to notions of gendered space. Elkin’s prose is wry, insightful and saturated with detail
—— Sam Ford , Totally DublinDelightfully meandering.
—— Daily TelegraphElkin is a beguiling writer, and resolutely female, her sentences doing what Virginia Woolf wanted women's sentences to do, which is to "hold back the male flood"… Flâneuse is a riposte to all that macho stomping about… Flâneuse is so rich with shining trinkets and wise thoughts that not a single page disappoints or bores. It's that rare thing these days - a work of feminism which is enthused by literature and art and ideas rather than pop culture.
—— Ellis O'Hanlon , Irish IndependentElkin explores the history of people and places in astonishing detail. She writes with a passion and personality that creates the kind of familiarity which encourages us to believe that the women she studies were close friends of hers… Elkin's first person, colloquial yet witty style lets you into the recesses of her imagination and invites you to be her travel companion
—— Oxford StudentLauren Elkin is one of our most valuable critical thinkers – the Susan Sontag of her generation
—— Deborah LevyJuliet Nicolson is firing on all cylinders ... She is able to write about powerful emotion in a way that is both heartfelt and unselfconscious ... It makes the book perfectly personal as well as a fascinating history
—— William BoydThis book is a marvellous illustration of the often forgotten fact that people in history were real, with real ambition, real passion and real rage. All these women took life by the throat and shook it. It’s a wonderful read, and a powerful reminder of the significance of our matrilineal descent
—— Julian FellowesJuliet Nicolson's book will engage the hearts and minds of daughters and sons everywhere. She has turned my attention to much in my life, and I am full of admiration for her clarity and gentleness
—— Vanessa RedgraveI loved A House Full of Daughters. I was initially intrigued, then gripped, and then when she began writing about herself, deeply moved and admiring of the way in which she charted her own journey. An illuminating book in which she charts the inevitability of family life and the damage and gifts that we inherit from the previous generations
—— Esther FreudA fascinating, beautifully written, brutally honest family memoir. I was riveted. This is a book to read long into the night
—— Frances OsborneI was riveted... She is so astute about mother/daughter relationships and the tenderness of fathers and daughters. She deeply understands the way problems pass down through generations... I congratulate her on her fierce understanding.
—— Erica JongJuliet Nicolson’s writing is so confident and assured. She combines the magic of a novelist with the rigour of a historian, and the result is thrilling and seriously powerful
—— Rosie BoycottOnce I started it was impossible to stop. I was totally absorbed by Juliet Nicolson's large-souled approach to family memoir down the generations, drawing the reader into lives that reverberate with achievement and suffering... movingly original
—— Lyndall GordonA moving and very revealing account of seven generations of strong and yet curiously vulnerable mothers and daughters
—— Julia BlackburnAn outstanding book about a gifted, unconventional family told through the female line. Insightful, painfully honest, beautifully written and full of love, wisdom, compassion, loss, betrayal and self-doubt. A House Full of Daughters will resonate down the years for all who read it
—— Juliet GardinerAn engaging memoir in which Nicolson lays bare discoveries about herself, but also gives a fascinating inside take on her renowned, and already much scrutinized, forebears. She also has much that is thought-provoking to say about mothers and daughters, marriage and the way in which damaging patterns can repeat down generations.
—— Caroline Sanderson , BooksellerNicolson is perceptive on difficult mother-daughter relationships.
—— Leyla Sanai , IndependentA fascinating personal look at family, the past and love.
—— Kate Morton , Woman & HomeBeautifully written history… She has as easy and elegant a style as her many writer relations, so this book is seductively readable. It could be described as a late addition to the ‘Bloomsbury’ shelves, but that should not put off anyone who feels enough has been said about that particular group. I found it touching and fascinating. In admitting that Nigel Nicolson was a friend, I can say with confidence that he would have been painfully proud of his daughter’s candid confession.
—— Jessica Mann , BookOxygenHighly readable, no-holds barred tale.
—— Jenny Comita , W MagazineNicolson has written a poignant and courageous history.
—— Daily TelegraphThe most enjoyable book to take on holiday would undoubtedly be Juliet Nicolson’s A House Full of Daughters… It is ideal holiday reading.
—— Lady Antonia Fraser , GuardianA simple premise looking at seven generations of women in one family, but it's got all the juicy bits of several novels in one
—— Sarah Solemani , You Magazine[An] ambitious memoir.
—— Lady, Book of the YearAn entrancing book… A poignant, well-written memoir-cum-social history
—— Sebastian Shakespeare , Daily Mail, Book of the YearA fine family memoir.
—— Daily MailThis engrossing book charts seven generations of a family who were obsessive documenters of their lives through diaries, letters, memoirs and autobiographical novels… Interwoven with the personal is a portrait of society’s changing expectations of women, and the struggle to break free from patriarchy. Here, brilliantly laid bare, are both the trials of being a daughter and of documenting daughterhood in all its complexity.
—— Anita Sethi , ObserverA charming book about the female side of Nicolson’s family tree.
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