This autumn The Times is serialising an unparalleled
range of books. As well as biographies of some of the most important
figures of the 20th century, we feature here the long-awaited second
volume of Alan Clark's diaries.
Online, we have gathered these extracts together and added a range of additional features. They include Milestones from The Times - articles from our archives which shed additional light on the extracts we have selected. You will also find reviews of the books, and Viewpoint - where online readers can add their voices to the debates that these books are bound to stir up.
The Collection began with a serialisation of Ian Kershaw's biography of Hitler. Forthcoming titles include Midnight Diaries by Boris Yeltsin; America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis by Sarah Bradford and The Ashdown Diaries, Volume One 1988-1997.
Alan Clark Diaries: Into Politics, edited by Ion Trewin, Weidenfeld & Nicolson
In this second volume of his Diaries, the author describes how he came to enter the House of Commons and serve as a backbencher. He covers the Falklands conflict and tells how in Margaret Thatcher's triumph he hopes for his own preferment. He inherits Saltwood Castle from his art historian father but money is tight. He admits his self doubts as well as his foibles and tells with his usual enthusiasm of his encounters with the opposite sex with his usual enthusiasm.
Author profile:
Alan Clark, who died in 1999, was MP for Plymouth, Sutton, then Kensington and Chelsea. After leaving the House of Commons in 1992 he published the first volume of his Diaries the following year. He was married with two sons and lived until his death at Saltwood Castle in Kent.
