Diana Beresford-Kroeger's startling insights into the hidden life of trees have sparked a quiet revolution. In this captivating account, she shows us how forests can not only heal us, but can also save the planet.
Born in Africa, Anglo-Irish by descent, Diana, aged two, travelled from Johannesburg to Ireland, to Annes Grove, a stately Georgian home with world-famous gardens, with talk of horses, rare plants and fishing juxtaposed with tales of banshees, the little people, ráths, the foxy-haired ghost and visits from Elizabeth Bowen, Vita Sackville-West, David Cecil and many others. Aged 18, Diana returned to Africa, where she doubled for Grace Kelly in 'Mogambo', met Raymond Hook, the king of cheetah racing, befriended the legendary Ewart Grogran and unwittingly employed a Mau Mau leader. Ever one to stand up for what is right, she challenged the authorities at the height of apartheid – and won! With humour, eloquence, empathy and candour, Diana shares her return to a place from her childhood, where family truths are learned, along with the realisation that Africa has real magic all of its own. p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; }
Diana's Tree is an important book - written in Paris, where she lived for four years - and the first really mature work (1962) by Alejandra Pizarnik (1936-1972), increasingly recognised as one of the major poetic voices of the second half of the 20th century in Latin America. "Reading Anna Deeny Morales's incisive translation of Alejandra Pizarnik is like experiencing Walter de Maria's Lightning Field - not in the New Mexico desert, but inside you. Psychologically strained and emotionally saturated, Pizarnik's poetry has electrified readers for more than sixty years. As gnomic, dreamy, passionate, and dark as the originals, Deeny's translations leave you singed - and glowing." --Forrest Gander
A pioneering scientist writes of the fascinating ecological and pharmaceutical properties of trees, and how mother trees nourish younger trees and help them defend themselves – the inspiration for the documentary Call of the Forest: The Forgotten Wisdom of Trees Renowned scientist Diana Beresford-Kroeger presents an unforgettable and highly original work of natural history with The Global Forest. She explores the fascinating and largely untapped ecological and pharmaceutical properties of trees: leaves that can comb the air of particulate pollution, fatty acids in the nuts of hickory and walnut trees that promote brain development, the compound in the water ash that helps prevent cancer, aerosols in pine trees that calm nerves. In precise, imaginative, and poetic prose, she describes the complexity and beauty of forests, as well as the environmental dangers they face. The author's indisputable passion for her subject matter will inspire readers to look at trees, and at their own connection to the natural world, with newfound awe.
Trees and shrubs are a valuable asset to a garden bringing structure, shade, year-round interest and the all-important vertical dimension. But choosing the right ones for small gardens is a fine art, and it's all too easy to end up with heavyweight shrubs overtaking the border, dysfunctional climbers and trees outgrowing their designated spaces. In this practical reference, woody plant expert Diana Miller takes the anguish out of the process by recommending plants and cultivation techniques that excel in small garden spaces. Small gardens require careful planting, and the book starts by considering plants that fulfil a particular design function, such as trees that provide the right levels of shade for an underplanting of choice bulbs, columnar or weeping trees for very restricted spaces, and specimen shrubs that provide an effective foil for herbaceous perennials in a mixed border. At the heart of this book is a comprehensive plant directory that provides detailed descriptions, including full cultivation advice for over 400 top-performing trees and shrubs. Further advice on pruning, information on planting to encourage wildlife and handy lists that allow readers to search by colour, height and other characteristics are invaluable.
This fascinating new book explores the puella as an archetypal, symbolic and personality figure reaching into the classical foundations of Jungian analytical psychology, focusing on the modern conflicts reverberating personally and culturally to remove the obstacles for accessing our more complete selves. Puella is youthful, charming and seductive and unfolds the creative, unusual wisdom of the feminine. Postmodern fluidity presents other realities, rethinking and reenacting the truth to oneself. If denigrated, psyche is halted from development, until addressed. The author employs a cross‐disciplinary approach and clinical vignettes from narratives of real people from diverse backgrounds reflecting Jungian thought and treatment, along with other psychoanalytical perspectives for the unfolding of puella. Examining the puella as a key figure in psychological development within a diverse world, this book will be appealing to Jungian analysts, and also to mental health professionals of various paradigms interested in Jungian analytical and philosophical thought.
Lady Diana Cooper was in her prime widely regarded as the most beautiful woman in England and the idol of her generation. She was witty, outrageous, generous and loyal. Famous as a member of the aristocratic and intellectual group 'The Cotorie', she later edited the magazine Femina before starting a career as an actress on the stage and then in films during the 1920s. Her husband, Duff Cooper, was parliament in 1924 and Diana continued as a society hostess until his retirement in 1947. Diana wrote three volumes of memoirs in the 1950s which are also published by Faber Finds, and she died in 1986 aged 93. Philip Ziegler's biography is a compulsive read, telling the story of a remarkable woman and her passionate life. 'For nine decades a symbol of all that is dashing and daring, a synonym for courage and wit and inspired friendship.' Sunday Telegraph 'Combines total honesty with total affection... A portrait which you can laugh over, cry over and think over as well.' Punch 'No wonder Evelyn Waugh loved her.' Scotsman