My Dear Hugh by Tim Heald

My Dear Hugh by Tim Heald

Richard Cobb was one of the most distinguished British historians of the twentieth century. A professor at Oxford, a multiple prize-winner, author of numerous books and innumerable essays and reviews, on subjects that ranged from the French revolution to pre-war Tunbridge Wells, he was proudest of all to be described as a Parisian. He was unconventional, anarchic and almost impossibly erudite. Somehow he managed in the course of a life of apparently unremitting grandeur to write letters to his friends, colleagues and increasing to Hugh Trevor-Roper, his equally brilliant and eccentric contemporary, and himself a notable correspondent. They were scratchy, iconoclastic, funny, indiscreet, vivid, fluent, and occasionally brilliant set-pieces of descriptive or historical reporting. The sight of one of his ill-typed missives in a blue Basildon Bond envelope was always a promise of pleasure, and usually of instruction, frequently an invitation to a feast of scurrilous gossip, and an excuse to put off day-to-day concerns for a while. He wrote about politicians, the royal family, fellow academics and journalists, and, of course, mutual friends. The complete letters would fill many volumes, but here is a selection of the best, made by Tim Heald, who was taught by Cobb at university, and corresponded with him intermittently for the next thirty years.

A rich feast for anyone who appreciates academic life with all its great virtues and great absurdities

Tim Heald has worked as a journalist on many newspapers, and has written over thirty books, fiction and non-fiction, including crime novels, and biographies. He lives in Fowey, Cornwall.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780711232402
ISBN 10	0711232407
Title	My Dear Hugh
Author	Tim Heald
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Quarto Publishing PLC
Year published	2011-10-06
Number of pages	240
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.