Kirjahaku

The biography of an archetypal great house and the family who lived there for over 250 years.

At the age of only 36, Sir Mark Sykes was signatory to the Sykes-Picot agreement, one of the most reviled treaties of modern times. A century later, Christopher Sykes’ lively biography of his grandfather reassesses his life and work, and the political instability and violence in the Middle East attributed to it. The Sykes–Picot agreement was drawn by the eponymousBritish and French diplomats in 1916 to determine the divideof the collapsing empire in the event of an allied victory inWorld War I. Excluding Arab involvement, it negated theirearlier guarantee of independence made by the British –and controversy has raged around it ever since.But who was Mark Sykes? A century on, Christopher Simon Sykes reveals new facetsof a misremembered diplomatic giant. Using previouslyundisclosed family letters and cartoons by his grandfather,he delivers a comprehensive and humbling account of the man behind one of the most impactful policies in the Middle East.

David Hockney's career has spanned and epitomised the art movements of the past five decades. Volume 1 covered his early life: his precocious achievement at Bradford Art College and the Swinging 60s in London, where he befriended many of the iconic cultural figures of the generation. This book tells his story.

David Hockney's career has spanned and epitomised the art movements of the past five decades. Volume 1 covered his early life. This volume finds him flitting between Notting Hill and California, where he took inspiration for the swimming pool series of paintings. It also illuminates the glamorous circles he moved in, and his relationships.

David Hockney's career has spanned and epitomised the art movements over the years. With access to interviews, family and friends and Hockney's own notebooks and paintings, this volume delivers a revelatory account of the man who many believe to be Britain's greatest artist.