Scenes and Apparitions: The Roy Strong Diaries 1988-2003

Description

'Viper wit from the gardener, writer and Knight of exquisite taste' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Funny, barbed and moving ... magnificently readable' THE TIMES Scenes and Apparitions covers a period of Roy Strong's life from 1988 to 2003. A sequel to Splendours and Miseries, it is an unmissable record of how a citizen at the close of the second Elizabethan age observed and chronicled his own world at the turn of the century. Although it is not without tragedy - the murder of his friend Gianni Versace, and the death of his beloved wife Julia Trevelyan Oman - there is plenty to enjoy from his descriptions of Elton John's fiftieth birthday party, to a concert for the Queen Mother, and his portraits of marriage, friendship, work and his celebrated garden, The Laskett.

Sir Roy Strong CH, historian, diarist and gardener, was director of the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum. He is author of some forty books on a wide variety of subjects. In 1982 he was knighted for his services to the arts, and in 2016 he was made a Companion of Honour in recognition of his contribution to the country's cultural life. He lives, writes and gardens in Herefordshire.

Funny, barbed and moving, Roy Strong's diaries are a treasure ... magnificently readable - THE TIMES Viper wit from the gardener, writer and Knight of exquisite taste - DAILY TELEGRAPH When it comes to ... high society gossip, Roy Strong is in a class of his own - DAILY MAIL