Margins
The Happy Years book cover
The Happy Years
1944-48
1972
First Published
3.78
Average Rating
317
Number of Pages

Part of Series

A classic six-volume memoir of the twentieth century, spanning through the Second World War, the Golden Age of Hollywood and the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Sir Cecil Beaton (1904 –1980) was an English fashion, portrait and war photographer, painter, diarist and Academy Award–winning stage and costume designer. Beaton’s third volume covers 1944-48. In 1944 Beaton, as official photographer for the Ministry of Information, was sent to Paris to arrange an exhibition of war photographs. While there he renewed his acquaintance with Picasso and encountered many other famous faces, including Gide, Cocteau and Gertrude Stein. The war over, Beaton the photographer became Beaton the designer and he began to work for Korda in films. Then in 1946, on a visit to New York, he sought out the woman he had met just once ten years before, and everything was suddenly different. For the woman was Greta Garbo. And Beaton was in love… THE HAPPY YEARS is the third volume of Cecil Beaton’s Diaries, a personal memoir of the twentieth century, covering famous artists and photographers, political figures, socialites, the rich & famous and movie stars. Perfect for fans of THE CROWN, LOVE, CECIL, fashion photography, artist’s memoirs, and twentieth-century history.

Avg Rating
3.78
Number of Ratings
37
5 STARS
24%
4 STARS
41%
3 STARS
27%
2 STARS
5%
1 STARS
3%
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Author

Cecil Beaton
Cecil Beaton
Author · 16 books
Born in London in 1904, Cecil Beaton's first photographs were of his sisters styled in theatrical decadent costumes. His unique flair for elegance and fantasy lead him to become one of the most successful and influential portrait and fashion photographers of the 20th century. Baron Adolf de Meyer and Edward Steichen were sources of inspiration for him, but he developed a style all his own. He worked for Vogue for over twenty-five years and also became official court photographer to the Royal family in 1937. A constant innovator, Beaton worked for five decades photographing some of the most captivating figures of his time, from Edith Sitwell to the Rolling Stones, Greta Garbo, Jean Cocteau, and Marilyn Monroe. Beaton died in 1980 at the age of 76.
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