Harold Nicolson's Diaries and Letters, spanning the years 1930 to 1962, were first published in three volumes, and it is in this format Faber Finds is reissuing them. The one-volume abridgement available in paperback from Phoenix is practical, and in itself a superb piece of compression, but such a great work, one of the major diaries of the twentieth-century, deserves also to be available in its full original incarnation. 'Not only a brilliant picture of English society in the 1930's, but a touching self-portrait of a highly intelligent and civilized man driven by conscience and curiosity to enter politics' Sir Kenneth Clark 'Enthralling reading. . . . A sharp, concise and highly intelligent account of his times is provided, at once amusing and serviceable to the historian.' Malcolm Muggeridge, Observer 'One is hardly able to put it down for meals. . . It is very artfully edited for, besides the diary proper, there are many letters to Sir Harold's wife, Vita Sackville-West, and not a few from her to him. But this remains solidly and brillinatly Sir Harold's own book.' Cyril Connolly, Sunday Times