Harold NicolsonBesprekingen

1/28/23

inscription:
cjt
13 nov 93
U of O

Goodreads: Harold Nicolson's diary of his first visit to the far East in 1957, when, as he approached the age of 70, he cruised to Java and back aboard the liner Willem Ruys of the Rotterdam Lloyd. Accompanied by his wife, Vita Sackville-West, he records details of routine and life aboard ship; his interaction with the crew and his fellow passengers; the happenings at home (revealed in the contents of his letters); and his thoughts - including the problem of obtaining contentment, and the reasons why, after the Napoleonic wars, young romantics indulged in melancholy rather than, as later, in anger. His diary entries date from Tuesday January 15 to Sunday March 17, as he journeyed across the North Atlantic, the Equator, the South Atlantic, around the Cape of Good Hope, across the Indian Ocean, and through the Malacca Strait to Java, before turning around for the homeward journey. His trip included a planned course of specialized reading (including Galen, Burton, Rousseau, Chateaubriand Novalis, Kierkegaard, and Connolly).

JG6

Harold Nicolson was a tory MP, and wife of Vita sackville West. He was briefly a cabinet minister in the war, and is a useful guide to the moods of WWII parliamentarians. The editing job by his son, seems competent.½

5623. Peacemaking 1919, By Harold Nicolson (read 29 Apr 2019) This is a book first published in about 1933 and is in two parts. The first part is called "As It Seems Today" and the second part is called "As It Seemed Then." The first part, written in about 1933, is an account of the author's time at the 1919 peace conference . He tells of the events at Versailles and is pretty critical of the people running the conference, including Woodrow Wilson. He points out the things they did wrong and in general says the treaty drawn up was too harsh and that the Allies knew the terms of the treaty could not fail to bitterly dismay the Germans. The second part of the book is a diary which Nicolson kept while he was attending the peace conference. It too is filled with criticism of things which happened from January 1, 1919, to June 28, 1919, although it is not quite as critical of the events as he is in 1933. I did not enjoy the book much since it seemed pretty irrelevant after all these years. It made me feel how perspicacious FDR was to call during World War II for the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers. . The peace of 1919 lasted only 20 years but the peace following World War Ii did not see any resurgence of either Germany or Japan as hostile powers. I was surprised at some of the issues which concerned the peace makers in 1919, e.g., that the USA should take over Constantinople; or that Greece should. The book is not too pertinent to today's world but there are interesting insights into the history of the past.

WHO KNEW LETTERS WOULD BE SO INTERESTING. HAROLD WRITES GREAT LETTERS.

In diesem Buch wird anhand von Tagebuchaufzeichnungen, Auszügen aus veröffentlichten Texten in Zeitschriften und Briefen die Anlage des Gartens Sissinghurst durch Vita Sackville-West und Harold Nicolson, ihrem Ehemann, dargelegt. Mir hat das Buch sehr gut gefallen, ich habe das Ebook gelesen und ich hätte mir, zur Illustration immer mal wieder ein Foto des Gartens gewünscht. Ich kenne den Garten nicht und deshalb fiel es mir schwer, mir die Gartenanlage nur anhand der Texte vorzustellen. Vielleicht bietet das gedruckte Buch mehr?

This book is NOT a gripping read; however, if you want to know about the establishment of modern Europe, and particularly, the British involvement therein, then this is a must read.

Nicolson must have researched extensively for this authoritative and informative book. It is well served by a plethora of notes which would make it ideal for the serious student but, leaving the in depth stuff alone, it acts as an ideal book for the interested amateur too.

Although, I have nothing with which to compare this work, to confirm its veracity, I am convinced by its representation of a group of diplomats all fighting in part for their country but equally, for their personal kudos. I was long intrigued by the contempt of Shelly and Byron for Lord Castlereagh: I can see, from this description, why he would not be the sort of man to appeal to their avant-garde outlook on life.

Sir Harold George Nicolson KCVO CMG (21 November 1886 – 1 May 1968) was a British diplomat, author, diarist and politician.For his seventieth birthday, Sir Harold Nicolson was given a two months' cruise from London to Java, a gift from his friends. The result is this wholly delightful book.

Well-written, and still useful, 1924 study of the unromantic circumstances that led to Byron's personal involvement in the Greek Revolt. A beautifully detailed account of the complete failure of this undertaking in the winter of 1823/1824, and of Byron's growing disappointment and uncertainty, and his final illness and death in the marshes and pouring rain of Missolonghi -- an area so wet that "the dykes of Holland when broken down are are deserts for dryness in comparison", as Byron said -- surrounded by unruly Souliot mercenaries, European adventurers, parasites, and incompetent doctors. Despite good psychological insight and a remarkably no-nonsense approach to the poet's life, Nicolson's tone is very apologetic regarding British imperialism, while using Orientalist, even racist terminology to describe the Ottoman Empire -- in sharp contrast to Byron's own approach to the wildly complicated political and ethnic situation in the Ottoman Aegean.½

The Congress of Vienna, written in 1945, is still by far the best book on this subject. It also gives a good insight in the workings of diplomacy and is very direct and open about the characters of the main players. On top of this it is very well written.

Nicolson's prose is a delightful read. His tales of the decade leading to World War II are insightful. His social and political position enabled him to mingle with the newsmakers and his vignettes of them are most enlightening.

ESSENCE OF HISTORY!! FANTASTIC!! SUPER. Keep this with 'The Great Duke' by A. Bryant. They go together. SEL

The aim of Why Britain is at War was to explain to the British population, in simple terms, why Britain had declared war with Germany in 1939. Being embarrassingly ignorant of the causes of this declaration myself, I thought this would be the ideal book with which to fill that gap in my knowledge. It was a good choice.

This is a very easy read having a straightforward linear narrative, and benefitting greatly from an effective analogy set up in the opening section. This analogy, comparing the expansionist activity of Hitler with the murderous activity of George Joseph Smith, is referred to throughout the work.

Although I cannot now claim to have any deep understanding of the lead-up to the Second World War, my ignorance is no longer of such embarrassing proportions. I am sure that this little book will serve as a perfect foundation on which to base further more detailed research on this complex subject, and I would be happy to recommend it as just such a work to others.

Interesante ensayo sobre el sistema naval español durante el siglo XVI. España, una de las tres potencias globales que han sido en la historia de la humanidad, fue la primera a la que se le planteo el problema de armar un sistema de flotas que asegurara su hegemonía y protegiera su comercio a lo ancho de los vastos océanos recién descubiertos. A diferencia de las posteriores potencias globales (Reino Unido y EE.UU.) el primer sistema de armadas español no fue permanente ni estuvo sufragado enteramente por el estado, se trato de un sistema intermitente, según necesidad, que era sufragado por la corona y por los particulares con intereses en el comercio de la Carrera de Indias.

Un buen libro que despertará el interés de aquellos aficionados a los temas navales o al funcionamiento de la corona española en sus años de hegemonía.

He knew about as much as anyone else. He almost cut the mustard with the decidedly discerning Cecil's - who even snooted at Churchill, Balfour, and of course looked down their noses at HGW.

I've enjoyed many of old Harold's books. He also held 'Orlando's' hand when she had nothing better to do.

849 The Age of Reason The Eighteenth Century, by Harold Nicolson (read 27 Apr 1966) Until yesterday I thought the book I finished today was quite the book. It is a study of the 18th century, or aspects of it, mostly by tracing vignettes of persons: Saint Simon (1695-1755); Pierre Boyle (1647-1706); Louis XIV; Peter the Great; Voltaire (1694-1778); Frederick the Great; Catherine the Great (astonishing!); Addison; Swift; Franklin; Horace Walpole; Louis XV; Cagliostro; Samuel Johnson; Thomas Paine; John Wesley; and Rousseau. Much fascinating historical material. But then I attended a theology class and was enthralled! The book being used is In the class is Redeeming Christ, by F. X. Durrwell. I read two chapters before class and got nothing out of it. But what an elucidation the class was! Real teaching--making the meaningless full of meaning! I am astounded. The concept of Christ's death--the redemption occurs at that time--I never heard before . Simply enthralling exposition.

This is an admirable, relatively early biography of George V by a former diplomat who was very familiar with and lived through the political events of the latter half of the reign. It is, deliberately, mainly about the King's public and political role, because John Gore had previously been commissioned to write a more personal memoir. This biography was supplanted as the standard work by Kenneth Rose's more wide-ranging later work, but this one is still valuable. Nicolson admirably and generously disguises the fact that in some respects he despised his subject (eg for pursuing stamp collecting and game shooting as hobbies) and very different in his approach to life (the bisexual Nicolson had many affairs with men whereas George V said of another such person 'I thought men like that shot themselves')

Harold Nicolson focus's on the Reign and less on his life of King George in this interesting book. This was specifically what he told Queen Mary what he would be doing when she asked him to write it as the personal life of the King had already been written .

I highly recommend this to historians or any person who is interested in the workings of Constitutional Monarcy . The content relating to interaction with his Prime Ministers is most interesting an thoroughly documented . Intestesting too is the Kings leadership during the Great War ,the birth of the Irish Republic . The section relating to Gandi is most interesting .

This is a excellent history and Nicholson certainly did an excellent job of it

1427 King George the Fifth: His Life and Reign, by Harold Nicolson (read 16 Dec 1976) George V was born June 3, 1865, and died Jan 20, 1936. I remember when he died--I was seven years old and in the second grade. This is a good book, though dry at times and is quite "official" and laudatory. The book spent quite a bit of time on British Constitutional theory, and its development during George V's reign. Some of the matters discussed were new to me: the Depression and how it was handled; Ramsay McDonald's formation of a National Government, etc. Not a bad book.½

Sir Harold Nicholson was born in 1886 in Teheran, where his father, Sir Arthur Nicholson, was British charge d'affaires, spent his youth in Persia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Morocco. He was knighted in 1953. he and his wife novelist V. Sackville-West, had two sons. they lived in Sir Harold's ancestral home, Sissinghurst Castle, Kent.

2273 The Congress of Vienna A study in Allied Unity:1812-1822, by Harold Nicolson (read 4 Mar 1990) This book was published in 1946, when I first heard of it, though not till now have I read it. It is a masterful work, just detailed and perspicacious enough to make it superlative reading. It covers the period from 1812 through the Congress of Vienna and to 1822. It tends to concentrate on Castlereigh, who was Britain's representative at the Congress till Feb 1815 and was Foreign Minister till his suicide on Aug 12, 1822, when he cut his throat from ear to ear with a small penknife. There is nothing unfavorable to say about this perfect book, which illuminates the period and makes it seem supremely interesting. I really enjoyed this book--I should read anything else Nicolson has written. I read two other books by him before I read this one, but this was by far the best of the three. Just very well-done!

The British circles of power of WWII, as viewed with V-1s flying over Sissinghurst. This, the middle volume of one the pre-eminent British diaries of the 20th century, is an invaluable source on the British political history of the war years. Nicolson, a highly cultured and accomplished individual, served in high enough echelons to write of the workings of the circles of power and the day-to-day unfolding of great events from, as it were, a medium distance. (His fellow parliamentarian Robert Bernays aptly characterized Nicolson as being "...a national figure of the second degree.") It is perhaps this diary, of all of his voluminous oeuvre, for which Nicolson shall be most remembered, as he was variously an acquaintance, associate, friend, or intimate to such figures as Ramsay MacDonald, David Lloyd George, Duff Cooper, Charles de Gaulle, Anthony Eden and Winston Churchill, along with a host of literary and artistic figures. A keen observer, the enties are shot through with color and detail –the character sketches are as engrossing as the titanic struggles which gradually body forth. It's still gripping even though we know how the history turned out!