Publisher's Synopsis
This collection of 50 letters by the famous and infamous gives insights into some of the key events of world history. Each letter is presented in modern English and accompanied by an illustration of the original letter, where possible, and text which acquaints readers with the author of the letter and the circumstances which led to it. The writer is introduced through a short biography, and the writer and contemporary objects associated with the letter are illustrated.;The collection is divided into four sections: "Encounters and Discoveries", including a letter from Samuel Pepys to Lady Elizabeth Carteret on the horrors of plague-hit London; "Self-Portraits and Justifications", featuring Bonnie Prince Charlie's letter to his father, James Stuart, telling him why he is going to Scotland alone to fight for the restoration; "Policy and Challenges", in which Emile Zola accuses the French Ministry of War of a cover-up in the Dreyfus Affair; and "Love, Death and Friendship", which includes the final letter from Nelson to Lady Hamilton, written shortly before his death.
