{"product_id":"long-recessional","title":"Long Recessional","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Superb, beautifully written, touching and occasionally very funny'' Andrew Roberts\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eDavid Gilmour''s superb biography of Rudyard Kipling is the first to show  how the life and work of the great writer mirrored the trajectory of  the British Empire, from its zenith to its final decades. His famous  poem ''Recessional'' celebrated Queen Victoria''s Diamond Jubilee in 1897,  but his last poems warned of the dangers of Nazism, and in those  intervening years Kipling, himself an icon of the Empire, was  transformed from an apostle of success to a prophet of national decline.  As Gilmour makes clear, Kipling''s mysterious stories and poetry deeply  influenced the way his readers saw both themselves and the British  Empire, and they continue to challenge us today.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''A fine, fair and generous work ... Gilmour''s celebrated life of Curzon demonstrated his mastery of imperial nuance and esoteric character, and he brings to this book just the right combination of empathy, distaste and\u003cbr\u003efastidious detachment ... there is never a flaccid line, and never a hasty judgement'' Jan Morris, \u003ci\u003eNew Statesman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''Every now and again a book comes along that sheds new light on a life we thought we knew. David Gilmour''s beautifully-written biography of Rudyard Kipling is just such a work ... This is literary biography at its very finest'' George Rosie, \u003ci\u003eSunday Herald\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''An enthralling biography of a mind ... essential reading for anyone who cares about how a writer finds, and passionately lives, his subject'' Ruth Padel, \u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''The best Kipling biography yet written ... Gilmour''s account of this driven man shines with intelligence'' J. B. Pick, \u003ci\u003eScotsman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57319392182654,"sku":"NW9780141990880","price":15.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9780141990880.jpg?v=1778648119","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/en-eu\/products\/long-recessional","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}