Isherwood's account is endearingly honest... a journal not only unusually objective but in parts shockingly frank. You are left feeling you have truly got to know Christopher Isherwood... A welcome supplement to Isherwood's Diaries and provides futher insight into a major literary figure

In Lost Years Isherwood lays bare his mid-life crisis with critical self-candour, never losing his engaging manner nor his sense of humour... His diaries are the basis for all his creative work, and Lost Years is the most revealing so far

Positively compulsive

Isherwood remains a curious and memorable writer... A master of translucent prose, the events and people of these years seem to be described by a narrator as perceptive as he is unobtrusive

The book makes for a rattling and thoroughly researched read on the last days of the world’s most notorious terrorist

Makes for a riveting read

Painstakingly researched

Grippingly narrated… Has the feel of a definitive work

Her compellingly written book not only illuminates obscure family members... but also provides fresh perspectives on some of the most familiar figures in our history... a work that elegantly combines wide-ranging research with fluent narrative

De Lisle’s masterful command of the facts – great and small – provides a complete and entertaining overview

A vibrant reappraisal of this turbulent family saga

Full of subtle revelations and fascinating detail... fine storytelling and thought-provoking analysis

It is…greatly to the credit of Leanda de Lisle that her new book on the Tudors as a family is so admirably balanced and accomplished, and full of subtle revelations and fascinating detail. The familiar faces are all here but their story is told with new insights… Fine storytelling and thought-provoking analysis

[An] illuminating portrait of our most famous royal family

Highly readable but no less scholarly

Wonderful, passionate, dangerous, fascinating stuff. I couldn't put it down

Leanda de Lisle has the gift of reminding us that history is the story of real people; real men, real women, full of rage and ambitionand lust and hope and love. The Tudors are already our most vivid dynasty, by quite a long chalk, but these pages render them more vivid still. This was an age when the game was worth the candle, when a chance remark could result in a crown or the axe. Wonderful, passionate, dangerous, fascinating stuff. I couldn't put it down

This fresh take on the Tudor dynasty is history at its best... an engaging and well-sourced account, sprinkled with provocative anecdotes that will appeal to both scholars and general readers... This compelling tale is driven by three-dimensional people and relationships, and de Lisle does a fantastic job of making them feel lived and dramatic

Reveals an entirely new perspective on one of England's most fascinating dynasties

A very lucid, entertaining and excellent read

A thrilling, intelligent and fresh royal history that sweeps from the family’s unlikely beginnings in the 1420s to their apotheosis under Elizabeth

The compelling story of the Tudors is vividly brought to life in de Lisle's narrative

This should now be the go-to book for those looking for a broad understanding of the Tudors

De Lisle's energy and stamina in this vast operation are truly impressive. What is more, she tells an often thrilling story with great dexterity... Altogether, this remarkable achievement puts de Lisle firmly in the front rank of popular historians of the period

Unlike many books that claim to tell the story of the Tudors, but focus mainly on four characters (namely Henry VIII and his three children who all ruled England after him), this excellent book includes so many members of the Tudor family who may not always be forgotten, but are often sidelined