Product Description: Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Nancy Mitford was witty, intelligent, often acerbic, a great tease and an acute observer of upper-class British idiosyncrasies. Her devastating illness prevented her from writing her memoir, but in 1974 Harold Acton, her close friend, completed her project based on material she had collected.

The author describes his life from World War II, when he enlisted in the RAF, to the 1960's and shares anecdotes about Edith Sitwell, Gertrude Stein, and Evelyn Waugh

Provides a pictorial tour of Medicean villas and those near Florence, in Siena, and in Lucca, paying equal attention to their history and architecture

The history, culture, and social life of Florence is depicted in extracts from letters, diaries, novels, and histories

Depicts the lives of three British ambassadors to Italy during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and examines the ambassadors' interest in Italian art

Recounts the decline of the Medici family against a corresponding description and history of Florence during that period

Product Description: By Harold Acton - 6x9" 128 pages with 39 illustrations. Copyright 1979 thus a First Edition, cover price L8.50, published by Thames and Hudson.