Artemis Cooper

Artemis Cooper, en la exhaustiva y a la vez cálida biografía sobre su figura, ha sabido captar perfectamente el espíritu apasionado y el magnetico carácter del autor de obras magistrales como El tiempo de los regalos y Entre los bosques y el agua. Siguiendo la estela de Patrick, o Paddy como lo llamaban sus amigos, vivimos de primera mano el ambiente festivo del Londres de entreguerras, somos testigos del valor de los miembros de la resistencia contra los nazis, disfrutamos de la luminosidad de Grecia y recorremos, en fin, una Europa cargada de historia y habitada por gentes de toda condicion, desde pastores nomadas hasta ministros griegos, o nobles hungaros y rumanos.

En línea con sus grandes best sellers Stalingrado y Berlín, Antony Beevor, acompañado esta vez por su esposa Artemis Cooper, relata en este libro la agitada historia de Francia durante los años inmediatamente posteriores a su liberacion del dominio nazi. Tras un breve preludio que incluye el colapso de la nacion y la ocupacion de Paris por los alemanes, el colaboracionismo y la resistencia, los autores nos describen las luminosas jornadas de la liberacion, el Paris, año cero de Simone de Beauvoir, de Sartre, de Camus y de Malraux, pero tambien de Hemingway, de Beckett, de Picasso y de Garcia Marquez, las purgas salvajes, el gobierno provisional, el regreso de presos y exiliados, la guerra fria, la bulliciosa vida intelectual del barrio latino, los americanos en Paris o el papel desempeñado por el Partido Comunista frances en un libro excepcional escrito a partir de documentos oficiales, archivos privados, memorias personales e historias orales de los protagonistas de aquellos inolvidables años de optimismo y de esperanza.

En línea con sus grandes best sellers Stalingrado y Berlín, Antony Beevor, acompañado esta vez por su esposa Artemis Cooper, relata en este libro la agitada historia de Francia durante los años inmediatamente posteriores a su liberacion del dominio nazi. Tras un breve preludio que incluye el colapso de la nacion y la ocupacion de Paris por los alemanes, el colaboracionismo y la resistencia, los autores nos describen las luminosas jornadas de la liberacion, el Paris, año cero de Simone de Beauvoir, de Sartre, de Camus y de Malraux, pero tambien de Hemingway, de Beckett, de Picasso y de Garcia Marquez, las purgas salvajes, el gobierno provisional, el regreso de presos y exiliados, la guerra fria, la bulliciosa vida intelectual del barrio latino, los americanos en Paris o el papel desempeñado por el Partido Comunista frances en un libro excepcional escrito a partir de documentos oficiales, archivos privados, memorias personales e historias orales de los protagonistas de aquellos inolvidables años de optimismo y de esperanza. Este es un libro maravillosamente bien escrito sobre una gran conmocion militar, politica y social. Yo fui testigo de lo que sucedio en Paris en las primeras semanas de locura y esplendor y todo paso como se cuenta en este libro, Dirk Bogarde. Tecnicamente se trata de un libro excepcional, pero ademas su lectura es pura delicia: apasionante, revelador, divertido y admirablemente tolerante y objetivo en sus opiniones. No se puede hacer mejor, Philip Ziegler.

Elizabeth Jane Howard (1923-2014) wrote brilliant novels about what love can do to people, but in her own life the lasting relationship she sought so ardently always eluded her. She grew up yearning to be an actress; but when that ambition was thwarted by marriage and the war, she turned to fiction. Her first novel, The Beautiful Visit, won the John Llewellyn Rhys prize - she went on to write fourteen more, of which the best-loved were the five volumes of TheCazalet Chronicle. Following her divorce from her first husband, the celebrated naturalist Peter Scott, Jane embarked on a string of high-profile affairs with Cecil Day-Lewis, Arthur Koestler and Laurie Lee, which turned her into a literary femme fatale. Yet the image of a sophisticated woman hid a romantic innocence which clouded her emotional judgement. She was nearing the end of a disastrous second marriage when she met Kingsley Amis, and for a few years they were a brilliant and glamorous couple - until that marriage too disintegrated. She settled in Suffolk where she wrote and entertained friends, but her turbulent love life was not over yet. In her early seventies Jane fell for a conman. His unmasking was the final disillusion, and inspired one of her most powerful novels, Falling.Artemis Cooper interviewed Jane several times in Suffolk. She also talked extensively to her family, friends and contemporaries, and had access to all her papers. Her biography explores a woman trying to make sense of her life through her writing, as well as illuminating the literary world in which she lived.

Elizabeth David was born into a upper-class family and pursued a rebellious and bohemian life as a student of art and then an actress in Paris, before running off with a married man to Greece and then settling in Cairo, where she worked for the British government. After the Second World War, she returned to England, where she was shocked by poor food into writing first articles, then books on Meditteranean cooking. A Book of Mediterranean Food was published in 1950, inspiring a cookery revolution, bringing new flavours and ingredients to the drab, post-war British diet. Over the next few years, David was to become a major influence on British cooking, yet her classic cookery books show little of the colourful personality behind the public persona. Artermis Cooper, in this refreshing biography, reveals an adventurous and uncompromising personality - a woman with a passion for food, life and men. This is the whole story: of her strong friendships, her failed marriage, tempestuous affairs and the greatest love of her life, told with extensive refererence to Davids private papers and letters.In this wonderful and creative book, Cooper has brought David to life... she not only writes like an angel, but has done her research with great skill and obvious enjoyment. Derek Cooper, Sunday TimesEngagingly well-written, thoroughly researched and documented. One of the delights of Artemis Coopers book is that it makes you go back, time and again, to the source. And suddenly I will find that I have whiled away the afternoon re-reading, for the sheer pleasure of it, half of Spices or An Omlette and a Glass of Wine. Frances Bissell, The TimesFluent, engaging and astonishingly readable. Clarissa Dickson Wright, Mail on SundayArtemis Cooper is skilled and wise enough to handle the contradictory sides of Davids character without being either censorious or sensational. Arabella Boxer, The Times Literary Supplement

Post liberation Paris an epoch charged with political and conflicting emotions. Liberation was greeted with joy but marked by recriminations and the trauma of purges. The feverish intellectual arguments of the young took place amidst the mundane reality of hunger and fuel shortages. This is a stunning historical account of one of the most stimulating periods in twentieth century French history.

80e ANNIVERSAIRE DE LA LIBÉRATIONCette histoire s’ouvre dans l’enthousiasme et le sang versé lors de la libération de Paris, à la fin du mois d’août 1944. Elle mêle les attentes des premiers « beaux

Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915-2011) was a war hero whose exploits in Crete are legendary, and above all he is widely acclaimed as the greatest travel writer of our times, notably for his books about his walk across pre-war Europe, A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water; he was a self-educated polymath, a lover of Greece and the best company in the world. Artemis Cooper has drawn on years of interviews and conversations with Paddy and his cloest friends as well as having complete access to his archives. Her beautifully crafted biography portrays a man of extraordinary gifts - no one wore their learning so playfully, nor inspired such passionate friendship.

For troops in the desert, Cairo meant fleshpots or brass hats. For well-connected officers, it meant polo at the Gezira Club and drinks at Shepheards. For the irregular warriors, Cairo was a city to throw legendary parties before the next mission behind enemy lines. For countless refugees, it was a stopping place in the long struggle home. The political scene was dominated by the British Ambassador Sir Miles Lampson. In February 1942 he surrounded the Abdin Palace with tanks and attempted to depose King Farouk. Five months later it looked as if the British would be thrown out of Egypt for good. Rommels forces were only sixty miles from Alexandria - but the Germans were pushed back and Cairo life went on. Meanwhile, in the Egyptian Army, a handful of young officers were thinking dangerous thoughts.

Beevor y su esposa, Artemis Cooper, nos muestran el París de Beauvoir, de Camus y de Malraux, pero también de Hemingway, de Beckett, de Picasso y de García Márquez. Un libro excepcional a partir de documentos oficiales, archivos privados y memorias personales de los protagonistas de aquellos inolvidables años de optimismo y de esperanza.

Artemis Cooper, en la exhaustiva y a la vez cálida biografía sobre su figura, ha sabido captar perfectamente el espíritu apasionado y el magnético carácter del autor de obras magistrales como El tiempo de los regalos y Entre los bosques y el agua. Siguiendo la estela de Patrick, o Paddy como lo llamaban sus amigos, vivimos de primera mano el ambiente festivo del Londres de entreguerras, somos testigos del valor de los miembros de la resistencia contra los nazis, disfrutamos de la luminosidad de Grecia y recorremos, en fin, una Europa cargada de historia y habitada por gentes de toda condicion, desde pastores nomadas hasta ministros griegos, o nobles hungaros y rumanos.

La agitada historia de Francia durante los años posteriores al dominio naziBeevor y su esposa, Artemis Cooper, nos muestran el París de Beauvoir, de Camus y de Malraux, pero también de Hemingway, de Beckett, de Picasso y de Garcia Marquez. Un libro excepcional a partir de documentos oficiales, archivos privados y memorias personales de los protagonistas de aquellos inolvidables años de optimismo y de esperanza.

Beevor y su esposa, Artemis Cooper, nos muestran el París de Beauvoir, de Camus y de Malraux, pero también de Hemingway, de Beckett, de Picasso y de García Márquez. Un libro excepcional a partir de documentos oficiales, archivos privados y memorias personales de los protagonistas de aquellos inolvidables años de optimismo y de esperanza.