John Gielgud Livres

An epic story of love, sacrifice and redemption amidst horrific violence and world changing events, interweaving one family's intensely personal drama with the terror and chaos of the French Revolution.

Shakespeare: The Illustrated Edition is an exquisitely illustrated, updated edition of Bill Bryson’s bestselling biography of William Shakespeare that takes the reader on an enthralling tour through Elizabethan England and the eccentricities of Shakespearean scholarship. With more than 100 color and black-and-white illustrations throughout, and updated to include recent discoveries, Shakespeare: The Illustrated Edition evokes the superstitions, academic discoveries, and myths surrounding the life of one of the greatest poets, and makes sense of the man behind the masterpieces.

In "An Actor and His Time" John Gielgud tells the story of his life in the theatre - a story already enjoyed by millions of radio listeners and which tells of the plays he starred in and directed, and of the actors and actresses he knew. And, as the curtain rises on Ellen Terry, on Sarah Bernhardt, on Mrs Patrick Campbell, Sir Ralph Richardson, Richard Burton and many others, sixty glorious years of British theatre unfold before our eyes.

'In this comprehensive volume, we see the actor in a range of roles: loving son, wicked gossip, star actor, indecisive director, anguished lover, brilliant anecdotist¿This splendid book reveals an infinitely complicated and attractive character. We may not look upon his like again' Jonathan Croall, SpectatorThe above quotes sums it up - this astonishing collection of letters brings us up close to one of the foremost, and best loved, actors of this century. John Gielgud wrote letters almost every day of his adult life. Whether at home in London or abroad, he delighted in recounting what he felt about events around him. Here for the first time - and not previously available to biographers - are Gielgud's love letters. They show that he was not shy is expressing the intimacies of personal relationships. He also loved gossip and writes about his contemporaries, including the great actors of period: Olivier, Richardson, Redgrave, Peggy Ashcroft, Edith Evans and the like. A revealing account but also a hugely warm and compelling insight into a man of many sides.