false 883230 7 In an absorbing mixture of poignant biography and wonderfully entertaining social history, <I>Daughters of Britannia</I> offers the story of diplomatic life as it has never been told before.<P>Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Vita Sackville-West and Lady Diana Cooper are among the wellknown wives of diplomats who represented Britain in the far-flung corners of the globe. Yet, despite serving such crucial roles, the vast majority of these women are entirely unknown to history. Who was Mrs Vigor, gossiping from St Petersburg in the 1730s about the intrigues of the imperial court, or Miss Tully, incarcerated in the British consulate in famine-torn Tripoli on the eve of the French Revolution?<P>Drawing on letters, private journals and memoirs, as well as contemporary oral history, Katie Hickman explores not only the public pomp and glamour of diplomatic life, but also the most intimate, private face of this most fascinating and rays mysterious world. Far from leading pampered lives of luxury and privilege, many women endured harsh, isolated circumstances that they continuously met with remarkable resourcefulness and strength: journeys could take many months to complete, medical facilities were often primitive or nonexistent and young children frequently died due to the conditions, not to mention wars, kidnappings and assassination attempts.<P>Katie Hickman balances stories of high drama with detailed recollections of domestic life in which women faced such daily challenges as getting their husbands' shirt fronts suitably boiled and starched in the wilds of Xinkiang or finding the right size bulletproof vest in which to do the gardening in Beirut. Touching on the lives of nearly a hundred diplomatic wives (as well as sisters and daughters), <I>Daughters of Britannia</I> is a brilliant and compelling account of more than three centuries of British diplomacy as seen through the eyes of some of its most intrepid but least heralded participants. 868505 1999 Daughters of Britannia: The Lives and Times of Diplomatic Wives total:23|5:5|4:9|3:9| 23 88 58 9 5 0 false false Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sat Sep 12 21:28:23 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 12 21:31:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sat Sep 12 14:15:04 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 12 14:18:38 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Thu Feb 19 02:40:47 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 03:43:40 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sun Aug 23 20:19:55 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 20:19:55 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Feb 10 13:22:30 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 13:22:46 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sat Aug 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 29 08:55:33 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 14 00:48:09 -0700 2009 1
However, once I got about ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Nov 04 10:07:31 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 04 10:13:08 -0800 2008 Daughters of Britannia is an interesting look at the wives and families of British diplomats from the seventeenth century to the present day—women who often endured hardship and upheaval in order to follow their husbands and brothers and fathers many thousands of miles from home. Hickman writes enga...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Fri Aug 01 04:49:07 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 01 05:03:44 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Wed Jan 28 12:14:07 -0800 2009 Tue Apr 14 07:09:44 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Nov 12 04:58:15 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 06:32:26 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Sep 23 12:24:09 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 12:24:09 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Sep 22 22:21:03 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 20:06:03 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Aug 25 06:53:31 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 06:53:31 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Aug 13 06:39:53 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 06:39:53 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Jul 31 09:47:35 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 31 09:47:35 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 25 06:39:09 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 25 06:39:19 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jul 13 15:05:47 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 15:05:47 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Jun 28 15:57:16 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 28 15:57:16 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Jun 18 09:05:15 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 09:05:15 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jun 10 07:21:49 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 07:21:49 -0700 2009