John Sandoe Books

Helena Attlee: Lev's Violin

Helena's citrusy history of Italy, The Land Where Lemons Grow, sold by the armful when it came out in 2014. Her new book tells the story of one fragile instrument and its journey across Europe, from Wales to Cremona to Russia. We still have some signed copies (at the time of uploading); please get in touch by email or telephone to reserve a copy. 

 

Edited by Magnus Rena 

 

Music: Broen Ensemble with Greg Lawson, Shaloka (trad. Armenian)

Ross King: The Bookseller of Florence

In medieval Europe, literacy rates among adult males was only 25% in cities, dwindling to 1% in villages. At the same time in Florence it was 70%. So what made this city the literary hub of Renaissance Europe? After his bestselling Brunelleschi's Dome, Ross King returns to Florence to follow the life of Vespasiano da Bisticci, the first bookseller of modern Europe.

 

Edited by Magnus Rena

Edmund de Waal: Letters to Camondo

Not so much a sequel to ‘The Hare with Amber Eyes’, this short, superb and immensely powerful book is nevertheless complementary to his earlier book. Read it, give it, think about it; read it again. 

 

Edited by Magnus Rena 

 

Music: Claude Debussy, Deux Arabesques, performed by Alain Planès

Roland Philipps: Victoire

Roland Philipps' new book, Victoire, is a gripping story of espionage, seduction and double-crossing. It follows Mathilde Carré, a spy in the intelligence networks of Occupied France. To discuss the book, Roland is joined by Daniel Lee, author of The SS Officer's Armchair which came out last year. 

 

Edited by Magnus Rena 

 

Music: Le Quartette Swing Émile Carrara, Le Charmeur des Serpents

Horatio Clare: Heavy Light

... A Journey through Madness, Mania and Healing. Horatio talks to Arabella von Friesen about what he refers to as "one of the stranger journeys of a travelling life". Please email, telephone or order online to reserve a copy. 

 

Edited by Magnus Rena 

 

Music: John Martyn, Go Down Easy 

Henry 'Chips' Channon: The Diaries

Simon Heffer, distinguished historian and editor of the diaries (the first volume of which is published today), is joined by Tim Bouverie. 

 

Edited by Magnus Rena 

 

Music: Jack Hylton & His Orchestra, Why Can't You 

 

 

A Cuckoo Press Publication: Gaia Servadio's A Wartime Childhood

A short, powerful memoir of a Jewish family’s flight from the Gestapo in Italy, 1943. Read by Arabella von Friesen. 

 

Edited by Magnus Rena 

 

Music: Ernesto Bonino, Strolling About 

 

 

Juliet Nicolson: Frostquake

... The Frozen Winter of 1962 and How Britain Emerged a Different Country... with moving parallels to our current situation. You can order a copy through a website here.

 

Edited by Magnus Rena

 

Music: Helen Shapiro, Walkin' Back to Happiness. 

Wodehouse Wednesdays: Jeeves and the Leap of Faith 2

Episode two of Ben Schott's spiffing homage. 

 

Read by John de Falbe, edited by Magnus Rena

 

Music: Cab Calloway, Minnie the Moocher 

Selina Hastings: Sybille Bedford

The first biography of this much loved author, bonne vivante, European, and John Sandoe customer, mentored by Aldous Huxley. Hastings’ earlier biographical subjects include Somerset Maugham, Evelyn Waugh, Nancy Mitford and Rosamond Lehmann.

 

Edited by Magnus Rena

 

Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Horn Concerto No. 3 in E Flat major