Background
Garfield was born in London in 1960.
( We Are At War continues Simon Garfield's successful for...)
We Are At War continues Simon Garfield's successful formula of interweaving five ordinary lives from the Mass-Observation archive begun with Our Hidden Lives. Of all the accounts written about the Second World War, none are more compelling than the personal diaries composed by those who lived through it. Beginning in the weeks before the war, and ending a year later with the Battle of Britain, the book will tell the story of the "phoney war" on the home front.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0091903866/?tag=2022091-20
(Published to coincide with World AIDS Day, this book look...)
Published to coincide with World AIDS Day, this book looks at a decade of AIDS in Britain. As well as the 8000 who have died, some 20,000 are infected with HIV, and many more carry the virus unknowingly. With no cure or even a vaccine in sight, and growing evidence of complacency, AIDS is still one of the greatest post-war challenges the UK faces. This book covers every significant development of the disease, from the early ignorance and panic to the emergence of AIDS as a good cause taken up by Sir Ian McKellen, George Michael and the Princess of Wales. The author uses information supplied by doctors, scientists, government ministers and civil servants, as well as interviews with leading entertainment figures such as Stephen Fry, Elton John and the late Derek Jarman.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0571153542/?tag=2022091-20
(The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the greatest eng...)
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the greatest engineering feat of its age. George and Robert Stephenson's "Rocket" was to become the most famous locomotive in history. William Huskisson was one of the greatest statesmen of his generation. On 15th September 1830, the three met.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FBBNRXK/?tag=2022091-20
(How do you make an object that changes the way people thi...)
How do you make an object that changes the way people think about travel, a small metal box that inspires huge devotion in those who own it, a car that continues to make headlines fifty years after its launch? In May 1959, the first Mini was produced on an assembly line at Cowley, near Oxford. It would take a team of supremely talented designers, draftsmen, engineers and production-line workers to build a car that was unique in appearance and construction. They would clash frequently over an uncomfortable and unsafe prototype, and the public had to be convinced to buy a car that let in two inches of water when it rained. But somehow the Mini became an icon. Originally designed for austerity and efficiency, the car soon came to represent individuality and classlessness. Today, the car is still produced at Cowley - it is now owned by BMW and called the Mini. A great British manufacturing story, it is more popular throughout the world than it has ever been, a symbol of the age that created it. But who makes these things, and what do they think about their work? By meeting the people behind the Mini, Simon Garfield uncovers a fascinating story of British endeavour, ingenuity and masterful marketing. The modern Mini has come a long way from the leaky floor and sliding windows. But throughout its history, the people behind it have always known that they have been making something rare - a car with soul.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0571248098/?tag=2022091-20
( From the author of Mauve, an obsessively readable memoi...)
From the author of Mauve, an obsessively readable memoir that brings the mania for stamp collecting to life From the Penny Red to the Blue Mauritius, generations of collectors have been drawn to the mystique of rare stamps. Once a widespread pastime of schoolboys, philately has increasingly become the province of older men obsessed with the shrewd investment, the once-in-a-lifetime find, the one elusive beauty that will complete a collection and satisfy an unquenchable thirst. As a boy, Simon Garfield collected errors—rare pigment misprints that create ghostly absences in certain stamps. When this passion reignited in his mid-forties, it consumed him. In the span of a couple of years he amassed a collection of errors worth upwards of forty thousand pounds, pursuing not only this secret passion, but a romantic one as his marriage disintegrated. In this unique memoir, Simon Garfield twines the story of his philatelic obsession with an honest and engrossing exploration of the rarities and absences that both limit and define us.The end result is a thoughtful, funny, and enticing meditation on the impulse to possess.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0151013969/?tag=2022091-20
(In 1936, anthropologist Tom Harrison, poet and journalist...)
In 1936, anthropologist Tom Harrison, poet and journalist Charles Madge and documentary filmmaker Humphrey Jennings set up the Mass Observation Project. The idea was simple: ordinary people would record, in diary form, the events of their everyday lives. An estimated one million pages eventually found their way to the archive - and it soon became clear this was more than anyone could digest. Today, the diaries are stored at the University of Sussex, where remarkably most remain unread. In "Our Hidden Lives", Simon Garfield has skilfully woven a tapestry of diary entries in the rarely discussed but pivotal period of 1945 to 1948. The result is a moving, intriguing, funny, at times heartbreaking book - unashamedly populist in the spirit of "Forgotten Voices" or indeed Margaret Forster's "Diary of an Ordinary Woman". "I love these diaries. They have the attraction of being stories, but REAL stories - Better than any novel." - Margaret Forster. "A lovely book. It will appeal to anyone who appreciates the richness and diversity of human experience." - Tony Benn. "Utterly engrossing, better than any kind of reality TV." - Gavin Esler. "Funny, vivid, touching, angry, thoughtful - every page is a delight. This is definitely no. 1 on my present list to give to everyone in the coming year." - Jenny Uglow, author of "The Lunar Men".
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0091896959/?tag=2022091-20
(Cartography enthusiasts rejoice: the bestselling author o...)
Cartography enthusiasts rejoice: the bestselling author of the Just My Type reveals the fascinating relationship between man and map. Simon Garfield’s Just My Type illuminated the world of fonts and made everyone take a stand on Comic Sans and care about kerning. Now Garfield takes on a subject even dearer to our fanatical human hearts: maps. Imagine a world without maps. How would we travel? Could we own land? What would men and women argue about in cars? Scientists have even suggested that mapping—not language—is what elevated our prehistoric ancestors from ape-dom. Follow the history of maps from the early explorers’ maps and the awe-inspiring medieval Mappa Mundi to Google Maps and the satellite renderings on our smartphones, Garfield explores the unique way that maps relate and realign our history—and reflect the best and worst of what makes us human. Featuring a foreword by Dava Sobel and packed with fascinating tales of cartographic intrigue, outsize personalities, and amusing “pocket maps” on an array of subjects from how to fold a map to the strangest maps on the Internet, On the Map is a rich historical tapestry infused with Garfield’s signature narrative flair. Map-obsessives and everyone who loved Just My Type will be lining up to join Garfield on his audacious journey through time and around the globe.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1846685109/?tag=2022091-20
(As a boy, Simon Garfield started collecting "errors" - ra...)
As a boy, Simon Garfield started collecting "errors" - rare stamps flawed by printing faults and absent colours. As an adult his childhood obsession became a full-blown mid-life crisis. This amusing but painfully revealing account of a passion he was once only able to admit to people he could really trust traces his fascination for these tiny print slip-ups from the simple pleasures of boyhood to an attempt to create order out of chaos and finally the gradual decline and break-up of his marriage. A touching testimony to what is, by and large, a peculiarly male emotional displacement, it pulls you into a world of pricey bits of paper and their impact on the lives of those who love them.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0054R58P6/?tag=2022091-20
(One of the most controversial photographers of his genera...)
One of the most controversial photographers of his generation — photographer to the major rock stars and models — Bob Carlos Clarke was also a troubled genius who, in 2006, killed himself. Exposure is a compulsive account of sex, love, genius and corrosive despair.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0091922585/?tag=2022091-20
(The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the greatest eng...)
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the greatest engineering feat of its age. George and Robert Stevenson's "Rocket" was to become the most famous locomotive in history. William Huskisson was one of the greatest statesmen of his generation and certainly the most accident prone. On 15th September 1830, the three met for the first time. Huskisson's fateful accident, in which the "Rocket" crushed his leg and thigh, is an unforgettable image of the Industrial Revolution. But what really happened on that day? How did the opening of the world's first passenger railyway turn from a glorious morning into a tragic afternoon? This book is an entertaining tale of ambition, genius, rivalry and legend, plotting the eight-year struggle to build a railway with a cast of engineers, politicians, actresses, surgeons, socialites and breathtaking machines. It is a loud and evocative snapshot of the times, but above all it is a human story of one man's shocking and very gory demise.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0571210481/?tag=2022091-20
journalist historian of cartography
Garfield was born in London in 1960.
He was educated at the independent University College School in Hampstead, London, and the London School of Economics, where he was executive editor of The Beaver.
He wrote scripts for British Broadcasting Corporation radio documentaries in the early 1980s. He also wrote for Time Out magazine, acting as editor from 1988 to 1989. He has written for newspapers such as The Independent, the Independent on Sunday, and The Observer, and was named Mind Journalist of the Year in 2005.
He was among the clients of Pat Kavanagh at United Agents.
He is the author of several books including Expensive Habits: The Dark Side of the Industry, the Somerset Maugham Prize-winning The End of Innocence: Britain in the Time of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, The Wrestling, The Nation"s Favourite: The True Adventures of Radio 1, and Mauve. In 2010 his book Just My Type was published, exploring the history of typographic fonts.
Garfield appeared on 25 February 2013 episode of The Colbert Report to discuss why he wrote On the Map. Garfield"s book To the Letter: A Curious History of Correspondence is the inspiration behind the charity event Letters Live.
(How do you make an object that changes the way people thi...)
( From the author of Mauve, an obsessively readable memoi...)
(One of the most controversial photographers of his genera...)
( We Are At War continues Simon Garfield's successful for...)
(In 1936, anthropologist Tom Harrison, poet and journalist...)
(Cartography enthusiasts rejoice: the bestselling author o...)
(As a boy, Simon Garfield started collecting "errors" - ra...)
(Published to coincide with World AIDS Day, this book look...)
(The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the greatest eng...)
(The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the greatest eng...)
(Just My Type A Book About Fonts by Garfield, Simon. Publi...)
(Will be shipped from US. Brand new copy.)