But those headlines do not even begin to tell one of the most compelling and fascinating stories of our time. A maverick from an early age, the strikingly attractive and eccentric heiress thumbed her nose at society, all the while forging an incredible life as a renegade with an appetite for adventure, a weakness for pleasure, and a penchant for privacy. Duke and her lifelong rival Barbara Hutton--with whom she would have to compete for the love of several men, most notably international playboy Porfirio Rubirosa-were dubbed "the Gold Dust Twins." Her father, James B. Duke, namesake of Duke University and one of the richest men in the country, was a rough-edged businessman whose greatest love was for his only daughter. Denied affection from her mother, a glamorous socialite concerned mainly with public appearances, Doris Duke led a sheltered adolescence, seeking friendship with those ignored by high society. Later, as her marriage to the politically ambitious son of a prominent grande dame of society crumbled, her concern with secrecy would develop nearly obsessive dimensions. Duke maintained dictatorial control over her four extravagant homes across the country, and she gained a reputation for excess as well as seeming pettiness. Her phenomenal wealth enabled her to withdraw from the world, even to distance herself from the university that bears her family name, and ignore its responsibilities. Recently she adopted a thirty-five-year-old former Hare Krishna who was a confidante also of Imelda Marcos. Here is revealed for the first time Doris Duke's fascination with those who embraced the spotlight she always shunned, especially Imelda Marcos, who found an ardent and fin

    She has since become a myth, a style icon existing between the glamour of Hollywood and the royalty of Monaco. As Hitchcock's favorite actress to work with, Kelly acted in classic films including Rear Window and To Catch a Thief, opposite actors such as Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant. Yet her private life remained in the shadows. Her marriage to Prince Rainier III was not anchored by love, and her life on the Riviera was more akin to a golden cage. She was an individual torn between illusion and reality, simultaneously idolized by millions.This comprehensive biography draws from previously unreleased documents from the Grimaldi family archive and, for the first time, access to the letters between Kelly and Hitchcock. It is also based on interviews with Kelly's companions and relatives, including an exclusive interview with Prince Albert II of Monaco.

    It is a treasure trove of Didion's no-nonsense wisdom about the art of literature and life, and about the power of both endurance and surrender.

    Her nineteenth-century New England lifestyle is legendary. Gardeners are especially intrigued by the profusion of antique flowers -- spectacular poppies, six-foot foxgloves, and intoxicating peonies -- in the cottage gardens surrounding her hand-hewn house. Until now we've only caught glimpses of Tasha Tudor's landscape. In this gorgeous book, two of her friends, the garden writer Tovah Martin and the photographer Richard Brown, take us into the magical garden and then behind the scenes. As we revel in the bedlam of Johnny-jump-ups and cinnamon pinks, the intricacy of the formal peony garden, and the voluptuousness of her heirloom roses, we also learn Tasha's gardening secrets. How does she coax forth her finicky camellia blossoms in the dead of a Vermont winter? How does she train that fantastic topiary to model for her artwork? How can she keep her crown imperials from tumbling in the winds? Tasha's garden reflects a wealth of family lore, perfected through the years and years of working the soil. We may be dazzled by the beauty of the garden, but we come away from this book with practical ideas about improving our own plots of land. "Paradise on earth" is how Tasha describes her garden, and along with the flowers and the vegetables that provide her food, her paradise is filled with an enchanting menagerie -- corgies, Nubian goats, cats, chickens, fantail doves, and forty or more exotic finches, cockatiels, canaries, nightingales, and parrots, which inhabit her collection of antique cages. Tasha's beautiful watercolors and her enchanting anecdotes color this sublimely beautiful book.

    Yet few in America are aware of the role she played in protecting some of England's most beautiful landscapes and in designing romantic interiors and a lovely garden at Hill Top, her beloved Lake District farmhouse.Taking the reader through her picturesque house and the breathtaking scenery around it that inspired many of her famous stories, this charming book is the first to look at the intimate connection between the English countryside and Potter's work. Her own exquisite sketches and watercolors, as well as personal ephemera, appear alongside specially commissioned full-color photographs, revealing a home filled with treasured old furniture and beautiful objects and celebrating an artist-storyteller whose legacy as a conservationist at last receives the attention it deserves.

    Now, I'll do it for him.' As founding cast members of hit television show Gogglebox, Leon and June won the hearts of a nation with their warm humour and unending love for each other. When Leon sadly died at Christmas 2017, Gogglebox viewers were bereft, calling for a state funeral for our national treasure. In this touching memoir she looks back at all of the laughter and love they have shared together; letting us in on the secrets to a truly happy marriage in this wonderful celebration of two lives well lived.Together for 63 years, coming to terms with life without Leon has been a difficult process for June. But the many treasured memories of their marriage will never leave her. From when, aged 18, she first laid eyes on Leon at teacher training college in 1955; their journey to marry when their parents disapproved; happy recollections of 1960s Liverpool; to building a loving home and family together before finding fame as pensioners. Firm favourites of Gogglebox, they were loved for their gentle teasing, Leon's cheeky gags and humorous rants, and June's unerring patience and caring touch. Leon and June have experienced their fair share of highs and lows, but they always got through everything together. As Leon always said, 'As long as June's here, I'm all right.'

    Two dozen new photos and illustrations make this new edition even richer with information. Its convenient paperback format makes it easy to carry and access, whether you are in or out of the garden. An essential overview of the science behind plants for beginning and advanced gardeners alike.

    What I found was that she hadn't kept some of it. She had kept all of it - every bus ticket, postcard, school report - from the moment I was born to the moment I finally had the confidence to turn round and say 'Why is our house full of this shit?'Sadly, a recycling 'incident' destroyed the bulk of this archive. This has meant two things: firstly, Dear Reader, you will never get to see countless drawings of wizards, read a poem about corn on the cob, or marvel at the kilos of brown flowers I so lovingly pressed as a child. Secondly, it's left me with no choice but to actually write this thing myself.This, my first ever book, will answer questions such as 'Is Mary Berry real?', 'Is it true you wear a surgical truss?' and 'Is a non-spherically symmetric gravitational pull from outside the observable universe responsible for some of the observed motion of large objects such as galactic clusters in the universe?'Most of this book is true. I have, of course, amplified my more positive characteristics in an effort to make you like me. Thank you for reading.

    To say that it’s high time that it was defined by its women falls some way short of an understatement.Jenni Murray draws together the lives 21 women to shed light upon a variety of social, political, religious and cultural aspects of British history. In lively prose Murray reinvigorates the stories behind the names we all know and reveals the fascinating tales behind those less familiar, ultimately producing a unique history of Britain that is as long-overdue as it is absorbing. From famous queens to forgotten visionaries, and from great artists to our most influential political actors, A History of Britain in 21 Women is a veritable feast of page-turning history.A History of Britain in 21 Women will profile Boudicca, Aphra Behn, Elizabeth I (this chapter will also feature Anne Boleyn and Mary Queen of Scots), Fanny Burney, Jane Austen, Mary Wollstonecraft, Constance Markievicz, Nancy Astor, Ada Lovelace, Caroline Herschel, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, Emmeline Pankhurst, Gwen John, Rosalind Franklin, Ethel Smyth, Margaret Thatcher, Nicola Sturgeon, Mary Quant, Barbara Castle and Mary Somerville.

    In 1916, Virginia Woolf wrote to her sister, Vanessa Bell, that though the farmhouse at Charleston in Sussex was primitive, you could make it lovely. Six months later, Bell moved in and, treating the house as a blank canvas, went on to create a treasury of Bloomsbury art.

    In a body of work spanning over a half-century, he was variously a draughtsman, a printmaker, a sculptor and a painter. This short book is both a biography and a guide to his art. It focuses on the extraordinary works that Henri Matisse made during the last period of his life - the large-scale cut-outs on coloured paper, including his famous Blue Nudes, The Snail and Large Composition with Masks.

    

    Finally, she traces the last 30 years of Potter's life, when she abandoned books to become a working farmer and pioneer of the conservation movement in the early days of the National Trust. Special features throughout the book will show how Beatrix Potter developed many of her most famous characters, including Peter Rabbit, Mrs. Tiggy-winkle, and Jemima Puddleduck.

    From her first exposure to the world as the fiancee of the future King of England to her death as perhaps the most revered figure of the century, she captured the imagination and the love of literally hundreds of millions of people. And, from her first portrait of Lady Diana Spencer in 1980 to her last shoot months before Diana's tragic death and finally to Diana's funeral, Jayne Fincher -- the only female royal photographer working with the explicit approval and full cooperation of Buckingham Palace -- was there. Granted unprecedented access to the Princess of Wales and the extended royal family for 18 years, Fincher amassed an enormous archive of more than 30,000 striking images of Diana.She captured on film Diana's transformation from a shy, awkward teenager to an elegant and sophisticated woman. Diana: Portrait of a Princess collects in one spectacular volume for the first time ever the best of these extraordinary photographs. Here are some of the most famous images of Diana ever published...and here also are hundreds of never-before-seen candids, outtakes, and portraits, the definitive photographic document of Diana's life -- as fiance, wife, and then ex-wife of the Prince of Wales; as mother to princes William and Harry; as philanthropist, as ambassador, as fashion muse. But more than a simple collection of images, Diana: Portrait of a Princess is a personal and deeply felt memoir with behind-the-scenes insight into the moods and complex personality of Diana. This narrative, a collaborative effort with royal writer Judy Wade, incorporates detailed impressions and experiences gathered in photographing the Princess. Featuring more than 500 pictures -- three-quarters of them never before seen -- and including dozens of revealing anecdotes, Diana: Portrait of a Princess is all exquisite tribute to a woman who carried the hearts of the world in the palm of her hand.