Wilson, A N – The Bell Bookshop

Goethe

Emma — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

‘characteristically provocative and accessible? Splendid on the social detail and the facts of Goethe’s life’ – Literary Review

‘Exuberant and wide-ranging’ – Miranda Seymour, author of The Haunted Life of Jean Rhys

A spellbinding recreation of Goethe’s life and work from one of our greatest biographers

Goethe was the inventor of the psychological novel, a pioneer scientist, great man of the theatre and a leading politician. As A. N. Wilson argues in this groundbreaking biography, it was his genius and insatiable curiosity that helped catapult the Western world into the modern era.

A N. Wilson tackles the life of Goethe with characteristic wit and verve. From his youth as a wild literary prodigy to his later years as Germany’s most respected elder statesman, Wilson hones in on Goethe’s undying obsession with the work he would spend his entire life writing – Faust.

Goethe spent over 60 years writing his retelling of Faust, a strange and powerful work that absorbed all the philosophical questions of his time as well as the revolutions and empires that came and went. It is his greatest work, but as Wilson explores, it is also something much more – it is the myth of how we came to be modern.

Confessions

Emma — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

When you combine the deepest learning and the highest readability with the most plumptious story-telling, the result is A. N. Wilson ? Stephen Fry Known for his journalism, biographies and novels, A. N. Wilson turns a merciless searchlight on his own early life, his experience of sexual abuse, his catastrophic mistakes in love and his life in Grub Street as a prolific writer. Before he came to London, as one of the “Best of Young British” novelists, and Literary Editor of the Spectator, we meet another A. N. Wilson. We meet his father, the Managing Director of Wedgwood, the grotesque teachers at his first boarding school, and the dons of Oxford – one of whom, at the age of just 20, he married, the renowned Shakespearean scholar, the late Katherine Duncan-Jones. At every turn of this reminiscence, Wilson is baffled by his earlier self – whether flirting with unsuitable lovers or with the idea of the priesthood. His chapter on the High Camp seminary which he attended in Oxford is among the funniest in the book. We follow his unsuccessful attempts to become an academic, his aspirations to be a Man of Letters, and his eventual encounters with the famous, including some memorable meetings with royalty. The princesses, dons, paedophiles and journos who cross the pages are as sharply drawn as figures in his early comic fiction. But there is also a tenderness here, in his evocation of those whom he has loved, and hurt, the most.

Confessions

Emma — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Known for his journalism, biographies and novels, A. N. Wilson turns a merciless searchlight on his own early life, his experience of sexual abuse, his catastrophic mistakes in love (sacred and profane) and his life in Grub Street – as a prolific writer. Before he came to London, as one of the “Best of Young British” novelists, and Literary Editor of the Spectator, we meet another A. N. Wilson. We meet his father, the Managing Director of Wedgwood, the grotesque teachers at his first boarding school, and the dons of Oxford – one of whom, at the age of just 20, he married, Katherine Duncan-Jones, the renowned Shakespearean scholar. The book begins with his heart-torn present-day visits to Katherine, now for decades his ex-wife, who has slithered into the torments of dementia. At every turn of this reminiscence, Wilson is baffled by his earlier self – whether he is flirting with unsuitable lovers or with the idea of the priesthood. His chapter on the High Camp seminary which he attended in Oxford is among the funniest in the book. We follow his unsuccessful attempts to become an academic, his aspirations to be a Man of Letters, and his eventual encounters with the famous, including some memorable meetings with royalty. The princesses, dons, paedophiles and journos who cross the pages are as sharply drawn as figures in Wilson’s early comic fiction. But there is also a tenderness here, in his evocation of those whom he has loved, and hurt, the most.

Lilibet

Emma — Thu, 12 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A celebration of the life of Queen Elizabeth II, showing us that the Queen’s qualities of duty, self-sacrifice and love of country were present in her from an early age.’The moments in life of “knowing”. On Bognor Beach, with Grandpa England, she had “known” that he, and Papa, and she, would carry something on, something given, something bigger than themselves.’Lilibet: a carefree child, a lover of horses and dogs, devoted to her family. And the girl who would be Queen.A.N. Wilson, one of England’s most beloved writers, imagines the Queen reflecting on her early life. We watch as she discovers, at the tender age of ten, that she is heir to the throne. We witness her meet the dashing Prince Phillip of Greece, who she loved steadfastly from the age of fifteen, and see their friendship blossom into passionate love. Above all, we learn of her astonishing sense of vocation and public duty, which grew during the dark years of WWII and her father’s subsequent years of ill health.Honouring the life of Her Majesty the Queen and her illustrious reign, Lilibet: The Girl Who Would be Queen is by turns funny, tender and heartfelt.’Superb… captures our Queen better than any biography’ – Sunday Telegraph’It’s packed with detail and conversations that bring to life all those who have been most important to her.’ – Daily Mail

The King and the Christmas Tree

Emma — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

‘An unlikely hero has a master storyteller to tell his tale. The King and the Christmas Tree is a poignant Christmas treat.’ Lucy Worsley, historian, broadcaster and authorEvery December, a huge Christmas tree arrives in Trafalgar Square. Bedecked in lights, it is a shimmering, festive beacon in the heart of London. But even more enchanting than the twinkling decorations and scented pine is the story behind the tree; a story of loyalty, friendship and resistance.On a cold evening in 1940, German warships made their way towards Oslo. It seemed inevitable that Norway, like so many other European nations, would soon submit to the Nazi regime. But the country’s indomitable King Haakon VII refused to surrender. Making his escape through his country towards the safe haven of Britain, King Haakon became an icon of hope for his people. And so, over seventy years later, the tree in Trafalgar Square remains as an enduring gift of thanks from Norway to the people of Britain.In The King and the Christmas Tree historian A. N. Wilson artfully weaves together this tale of courage and friendship between nations. Richly illustrated and beautifully told, it is a delightful Christmas cracker for everyone, young and old alike.

The Mystery of Charles Dickens

Emma — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

A Book of the Year in The Times & Sunday Times, Daily Mail, Spectator, Irish Times and TLS. ‘Superb’ Daily Mail, ‘Book of the Week”Brilliant’ The Times, ‘Book of the Week”[A] vivid, detailed account’ Guardian, ‘Book of the Week”Hugely enjoyable’ Daily Telegraph’Fascinating’ SpectatorCharles Dickens was a superb public performer, a great orator and one of the most famous of the Eminent Victorians. Slight of build, with a frenzied, hyper-energetic personality, Dickens looked much older than his fifty-eight years when he died. Although he specified an unpretentious funeral, it was inevitable that crowds flocked to his open grave in Westminster Abbey. Experiencing the worst and best of life during the Victorian Age, Dickens was not merely the conduit through whom some of the most beloved characters in literature came into the world. He was one of them.Filled with twists, pathos and unusual characters, The Mystery of Charles Dickens looks back from the legendary writer’s death to recall the key events in his life. In doing so, A. N. Wilson seeks to understand Dickens’s creative genius and enduring popularity. Following him from cradle to grave, it becomes clear that Dickens’s fiction drew from his own experiences – a fact he acknowledged. Like Oliver Twist, Dickens suffered a wretched childhood, then grew up to become not only a respectable gentleman but an artist of prodigious popularity. Dickens knew firsthand the poverty and pain his characters endured, including the scandal of a failed marriage.Going beyond standard narrative biography, Wilson brilliantly revisits the wellspring of Dickens’s vast and wild imagination, revealing why his novels have such instantaneous appeal and why they continue to resonate today. He also uncovers the double standards of both the man and his times.

Prince Albert: The Man Who Saved the Monarchy

Emma — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The success story of the British royal family can be laid at the door of Prince Albert, who, after his death in 1861, turned into a man who could do no wrong. His statues were to be seen all over the Empire. Albert Halls, Albert Squares, Albert Streets filled every English-speaking town, and many of the towns in India. In this exhaustively researched and definitive biography, A.N. Wilson reveals Prince Albert to be a man of prodigious gifts. Not only was he politically astute, he had administrative gifts which could have made him a great general. He was scientifically informed. He understood, and was enthused by, modern technology. He was a knowledgeable art collector. He was a musician and composer. He was the father of a family. Between them, Victoria and Albert rescued the British monarchy from grave crisis and established the kind of country Britain would become over the next century.

Victoria

Emma — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000

‘Writing about Queen Victoria has been one of the most joyous experiences of my life. I have read thousands (literally) of letters never before published, and grown used to her as to a friend. Maddening? Egomaniac? Hysterical? A bad mother? Some have said so. What emerged for me was a brave, original woman who was at the very epicentre of Britain’s changing place in the world: a solitary woman in an all-male world who understood politics and foreign policy much better than some of her ministers; a person possessed by demons, but demons which she was brave enough to conquer. Above all, I became aware, when considering her eccentric friendships and deep passions, of what a loveable person she was.’ A. N. Wilson

After The Victorians

Emma — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 00:00:00 +0000

When this book begins, in the reign of Edward VII, Great Britain commands the mightiest empire the world has ever seen. By the time it ends, with the Coronation of Elizabeth II, Britain has emerged victorious from a world war, but ruined as a world power. How did Britain’s power and influence decline? This is one of the questions which A. N. Wilson seeks to answer in his masterly follow-up to The Victorians.