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. Perfect for fans of THE CROWN, fashion photography, artist’s memoirs, and twentieth-century history. 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 sixth and final volume covers 1963-74. It follows Beaton's encounters with the youth of the swinging sixties but also the parting of many of his lifelong friends. In Marrakesh he meets Mick Jagger and in England David Hockney comes to stay. There are many vivid and affectionate Garbo in Greece, as bewitching as ever; Philippe and Pauline de Rothschild in their little principality at Mouton; Picasso, rather shrivelled but full of vitality and hope; Diana Cooper defying the passing years with indomitable energy. THE PARTING YEARS is the sixth 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. ‘One of the reasons I continue to love and admire Cecil Beaton is his proven ability to accomplish as well as to believe as many as six impossible things at a time, before or after breakfast.’ – The Spectator ‘One could go on reading him forever’ – The Observer 'His is a superb diarist, comparable to the best in our language' – Books and Bookmen 'Wise, witty and perceptive' – New York Herald Tribune ‘Fascinating and well-written, and deserves to be read as an insight into a period and of someone who was very much part of it’ – Western Mail ‘One of the unassailables of our time’ – Daily Mail ***PLEASE NOTE THIS NEW EDITION DOES NOT INCLUDE THE PHOTOGRAPHS PRESENT IN THE ORIGINAL HARDBACK EDITION*** CECIL BEATON’S DIARIES SERIES BOOK 1: THE WANDERING 1922-39 BOOK 2: THE YEARS 1939-44 BOOK 3: THE HAPPY 1944-8 BOOK 4: THE STRENUOUS 1948-55 BOOK 5: THE RESTLESS 1955-63 BOOK 6: THE PARTING 1963-74