Wilde's Last Stand

Wilde's Last Stand PDF Author: Philip Hoare
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
In 1918 the "Vigilante" newspaper claimed the German Secret Service held evidence naming 47, 000 members of the British establishment who were perverts. In the libel trial that followed, Maud Allan, Robbie Ross and Lord Alfred Douglas became embroiled in the battle over Wilde's reputation.

Wilde's Last Stand

Wilde's Last Stand PDF Author: Philip Hoare
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
In 1918 the "Vigilante" newspaper claimed the German Secret Service held evidence naming 47, 000 members of the British establishment who were perverts. In the libel trial that followed, Maud Allan, Robbie Ross and Lord Alfred Douglas became embroiled in the battle over Wilde's reputation.

Wilde's Last Stand

Wilde's Last Stand PDF Author: Philip Hoare
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
ISBN: 9780715640821
Category : Great Britain
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
In 1918 the Vigilante newspaper claimed that the German Secret Service held a book containing the names of 47,000 British establishment members who were sexual perverts. It was claimed Britain was losing the war because the Germans were blackmailing these figures and thereby sapping the country's strength. The Vigilante was exploiting popular belief that Britain had become a decadent state still in thrall to the immoral cult of Oscar Wilde. The extreme right wing politics of the newspaper's publisher were becoming dangerously popular and in the sensational libel trial that followed many high society members were drawn in. Wilde's devoted "friend" Robbie Ross and his one time lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, both became embroiled in the bitter battle over Wilde's reputation. The author uses original documents and archives to narrate the history of this bizarre scandal, made all the more unusual by having occurred during the final year of World War I. He produces a portrait of wartime society, telling of transvestites in the trenches, of drug clubs in London, and of the roots of British fascism, discerning the seeds of intolerance which would inform the troubled years to come. 'Hoare has identified one of the key moments in the formation of the modern world, and he has documented it with dazzling brilliance' Simon Callow, Sunday Times

Oscar Wilde's Last Stand

Oscar Wilde's Last Stand PDF Author: Philip Hoare
Publisher: Arcade Publishing
ISBN: 9781559704236
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
So outraged was Noel Pemberton Billing, a member of Parliament and self-appointed guardian of family values, that he denounced Allan in the right-wing newspaper Vigilante as a member of the "Cult of the Clitoris." Billing was convinced that the "Cult of Wilde" - a catchall for anyone guilty of degeneracy and perversion, in his eyes - had infected the land. Of that, Billing maintained, he had proof: a black book containing the names of 47,000 members of the British establishment who without doubt were members of the Cult of Wilde was in the hands of the Germans.

Oscar Wilde's Scandalous Summer

Oscar Wilde's Scandalous Summer PDF Author: Antony Edmonds
Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited
ISBN: 1445636468
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
A biography of Wilde’s most turbulent years, including the full story of the summer Oscar Wilde spent writing his masterpiece, when he was at the height of his fame, when his relationships were at their most tangled, and right before his life fell apart.

Oscar

Oscar PDF Author: Matthew Sturgis
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1788545966
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 878

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Book Description
The first major biography of Oscar Wilde in thirty years, and the most complete telling of his life and times to date. NOMINATED FOR THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2019 'The Book of the Year, perhaps of the decade' TLS 'Simply the best modern biography of Wilde... A terrific achievement' Evening Standard 'Page-turning... Vivid and desperately moving. However much you think you know Wilde, this book will absorb and entertain you' The Sunday TimesBooks of the Year Oscar Wilde's life – like his wit – was alive with paradox. He was both an early exponent and a victim of 'celebrity culture': famous for being famous, he was lauded and ridiculed in equal measure. His achievements were frequently downplayed, his successes resented. He had a genius for comedy but strove to write tragedies. He was an unabashed snob who nevertheless delighted in exposing the faults of society. He affected a dandified disdain but was prone to great acts of kindness. Although happily married, he became a passionate lover of men and – at the very peak of his success – brought disaster upon himself. He disparaged authority, yet went to the law to defend his love for Lord Alfred Douglas. Having delighted in fashionable throngs, Wilde died almost alone. Above all, his flamboyant refusal to conform to the social and sexual orthodoxies of his day make him a hero and an inspiration to all who seek to challenge convention. Matthew Sturgis draws on a wealth of new material and fresh research, bringing alive the distinctive mood and characters of the fin de siècle in the richest and most compelling portrait of Wilde to date.

The Happy Prince

The Happy Prince PDF Author: Oscar Wilde
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780500651551
Category : Fairy tales
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
In a town where a lot of poor people suffer and where there are a lot of miseries, a swallow who was left behind after his flock flew off to Egypt for the winter, meets the statue of the late 'Happy Prince', who in reality has never experienced true sorrow, for he lived in a palace where sorrow isn't allowed to enter. Viewing various scenes of people suffering in poverty from his tall monument, the Happy Prince asks the swallow to take the ruby from his hilt, the sapphires from his eyes, and the golden leaf covering his body to give to the poor. As the winter comes and the Happy Prince is stripped of all of his beauty, his lead heart breaks when the swallow dies as a result of his selfless deeds and severe cold. The statue is then brought down from the pillar and melted in a furnace leaving behind the broken heart and the dead swallow and they are thrown in a dust heap. These are taken up to heaven by an angel that has deemed them the two most precious things in the city. This is affirmed by God and they live forever in his city of gold and garden of paradise.

The Ballad of Reading Gaol

The Ballad of Reading Gaol PDF Author: Oscar Wilde
Publisher: Read Books Ltd
ISBN: 1528791274
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 52

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Book Description
Originally published in 1898, “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” is a poem written by Oscar Wilde. Composed after his release from the titular prison whilst he was in exile in Berneval-le-Grand, the poem deals with the hanging at Reading Goal of Charles Thomas Wooldridge, a 30-year-old man who was imprisoned for cutting his wife's throat. Within the poem, Wilde narrates the execution in full and explores the brutal nature of the punishment that all inmates must endure. Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854–1900) was an Irish poet and playwright who became one of the most popular in London during the 1880s and 1890s. Well-known for his sharp wit and extravagant attire, Wilde was a proponent of aestheticism and wrote in a variety of forms including poetry, fiction, and drama. He was famously imprisoned for homosexual acts from 1895 to 1897 and died at the age of 46, just three years after his release. Other notable works by this author include: “Picture of Dorian Gray” (1890), “Salome” (1891), and “The Importance of Being Earnest” (1895). Ragged Hand is proudly republishing this classic poem now complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

Bosie

Bosie PDF Author: Douglas Murray
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1529364175
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 508

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Book Description
WITH A NEW FOREWORD AND REVISED INTRODUCTION 'A superb biography ... full of compassion, perception' Roger Lewis, The Times 'I love this book. Douglas Murray is a genius' Rupert Everett Lord Alfred Douglas, known as 'Bosie', son of the Marquess of Queensberry, was known as one of the most beautiful young men of his generation. Aged twenty-one he met and became the lover and subsequent obsession of Oscar Wilde. Their relationship caused a scandal in 1895 when Wilde took Queensberry, Douglas's aggressive father, to court for libel. When the details of their relationship were aired in court, Wilde was convicted of gross indecency and later imprisoned. Wilde's story is well known, but this is the first book to tell it fully from Douglas's perspective. Written, and originally published in 2000, with access to never-before-seen papers , Bosie explores the contradictions, tensions and turmoils of Douglas's life with Wilde and beyond as a poet, husband and father. This compelling biography uncovers the life of one of the most notorious figures in literary history, and its course from gilded beautiful youth to semi-reclusive outcast, at the time of Douglas's death in 1945.

De Profundis

De Profundis PDF Author: Oscar Wilde
Publisher: London : Methuen
ISBN:
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
De Profundis (Latin: "from the depths") is a letter written by Oscar Wilde during his imprisonment in Reading Gaol, to "Bosie" (Lord Alfred Douglas).In its first half Wilde recounts their previous relationship and extravagant lifestyle which eventually led to Wilde's conviction and imprisonment for gross indecency. He indicts both Lord Alfred's vanity and his own weakness in acceding to those wishes. In the second half, Wilde charts his spiritual development in prison and identification with Jesus Christ, whom he characterises as a romantic, individualist artist. The letter began "Dear Bosie" and ended "Your Affectionate Friend".Wilde wrote the letter between January and March 1897, close to the end of his imprisonment. Contact had lapsed between Douglas and Wilde and the latter had suffered from his close supervision, physical labour and emotional isolation. Nelson, the new prison governor, thought that writing might be more cathartic than prison labour. He was not allowed to send the long letter which he was allowed to write "for medicinal purposes"; each page was taken away when completed, and only at the end could he read it over and make revisions. Nelson gave the long letter to him on his release on 18 May 1897.Wilde entrusted the manuscript to the journalist Robert Ross (another former lover, loyal friend and rival to "Bosie"). Ross published the letter in 1905, five years after Wilde's death, giving it the title "De Profundis" from Psalm 130. It was an incomplete version, excised of its autobiographical elements and references to the Queensberry family; various editions gave more text until in 1962 the complete and correct version appeared in a volume of Wilde's letters.

Wilde's Women

Wilde's Women PDF Author: Eleanor Fitzsimons
Publisher: ABRAMS
ISBN: 1468313266
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
“A lively debut biography of the flamboyant Irish writer . . . focusing on the women who loved and supported him” (Kirkus Reviews). In this essential work, Eleanor Fitzsimons reframes Oscar Wilde’s story and his legacy through the women in his life, including such scintillating figures as Florence Balcombe; actress Lillie Langtry; and his tragic and witty niece, Dolly, who, like Wilde, loved fast cars, cocaine, and foreign women. Fresh, revealing, and entertaining, full of fascinating detail and anecdotes, Wilde’s Women relates the untold story of how a beloved writer and libertine played a vitally sympathetic role on behalf of many women, and how they supported him in the midst of a Victorian society in the process of changing forever. “Fitzsimons reminds us of the many writers, actresses, political activists, professional beauties and aristocratic ladies who helped shape the life and legend of the era’s greatest wit, esthete and sexual martyr . . . provide[s] a potted biography of the multitalented writer and gay icon . . . highly enjoyable.” —The Washington Post “Fitzsimons brilliantly calls attention to the progressive ideas and beliefs which drew the most daring and interesting women of the time to his side. The depth and painstaking care of Fitzsimons’ research is a fitting tribute to Wilde’s fascinating life and exquisite writing—and really, what better compliment is there than that?” —High Voltage