Want to know what books Juliet Gardiner recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Juliet Gardiner's favorite book recommendations of all time.
1
In August 1934, young Cyril L. wrote to his friend Billy about all the exciting men he had met, the swinging nightclubs he had visited, and the vibrant new life he had forged for himself in the big city. He wrote, "I have only been queer since I came to London about two years ago, before then I knew nothing about it." London, for Cyril, meant boundless opportunities to explore his newfound sexuality. But his freedom was limited: he was soon arrested, simply for being in a club frequented by queer men.
Cyril's story is Matt Houlbrook's point of entry into the queer worlds of early... more In August 1934, young Cyril L. wrote to his friend Billy about all the exciting men he had met, the swinging nightclubs he had visited, and the vibrant new life he had forged for himself in the big city. He wrote, "I have only been queer since I came to London about two years ago, before then I knew nothing about it." London, for Cyril, meant boundless opportunities to explore his newfound sexuality. But his freedom was limited: he was soon arrested, simply for being in a club frequented by queer men.
Cyril's story is Matt Houlbrook's point of entry into the queer worlds of early twentieth-century London. Drawing on previously unknown sources, from police reports and newspaper exposés to personal letters, diaries, and the first queer guidebook ever written, Houlbrook here explores the relationship between queer sexualities and modern urban culture that we take for granted today. He revisits the diverse queer lives that took hold in London's parks and streets; its restaurants, pubs, and dancehalls; and its Turkish bathhouses and hotels—as well as attempts by municipal authorities to control and crack down on those worlds. He also describes how London shaped the culture and politics of queer life—and how London was in turn shaped by the lives of queer men. Ultimately, Houlbrook unveils the complex ways in which men made sense of their desires and who they were. In so doing, he mounts a sustained challenge to conventional understandings of the city as a place of sexual liberation and a unified queer culture.
A history remarkable in its complexity yet intimate in its portraiture, Queer London is a landmark work that redefines queer urban life in England and beyond.
“A ground-breaking work. While middle-class lives and writing have tended to compel the attention of most historians of homosexuality, Matt Houlbrook has looked more widely and found a rich seam of new evidence. It has allowed him to construct a complex, compelling account of interwar sexualities and to map a new, intimate geography of London.”—Matt Cook, The Times Higher Education Supplement
Winner of History Today’s Book of the Year Award, 2006
less 
Juliet GardinerWhat Matt Houlbrook’s book is so good at showing is while there was certainly prejudice against ‘nancy boys’, as they were called, and very flamboyant, very exhibitionist homosexuals, generally homosexual behaviour was much more tolerated than you would imagine. It was after World War II that you really got a crackdown on homosexuality. If you look back at the diaries of Virginia Woolf there was... (Source)
See more recommendations for this book...
2
Paul Barker, Philippa Lewis | 4.11
"Suburban" is regularly used as a dismissive rather than a descriptive term, especially by architects and planners. And yet, judging by the sheer number of people who move there, suburbia must be doing something right. It is best to understand, Paul Barker writes, before rushing to condemn. Suburbs are an essential part of every city; quite often, the most vigorous and innovative part. Here, Barker leads an entertaining journey through Britain’s ’burbs: a white witch living in a Croydon semi-detached; a high-rise block being razed; the hidden charms of the modern planned community of Milton... more "Suburban" is regularly used as a dismissive rather than a descriptive term, especially by architects and planners. And yet, judging by the sheer number of people who move there, suburbia must be doing something right. It is best to understand, Paul Barker writes, before rushing to condemn. Suburbs are an essential part of every city; quite often, the most vigorous and innovative part. Here, Barker leads an entertaining journey through Britain’s ’burbs: a white witch living in a Croydon semi-detached; a high-rise block being razed; the hidden charms of the modern planned community of Milton Keynes; seaside bungalows and strip malls on the edge of town. With a keen eye for detail, Barker paints a humane yet provocative portrait of 21st-century living. And he throws down a gauntlet to anyone thinking about the future of cities, towns, and countryside, arguing persuasively that what is needed is less planning, not more. less Juliet GardinerWhat Paul Barker is doing, which is so important, is to reinstate and point out that while there were great examples of modernist architecture in the thirties, the real 1930s architecture was suburbia. And there was a great deal of snobbishness about it. There were more than four million houses built between the wars. Three million of them were built by private developers and most of those were... (Source)
See more recommendations for this book...
3
The first book to explore Modernism from a truly international perspective, "Modernism: Designing a New World" offers a reassessment of the concept and reveals the fundamental ways in which it has shaped our world and its visual culture.
Modernism flourished between 1914 and 1939, and became a key point of reference for 20th-century architecture, art, and design. This important, lavishly illustrated book demonstrates the movement's continued influence, on everything from the chairs we sit on to the buildings we occupy. The range of objects illustrated-including the fine arts as well as... more The first book to explore Modernism from a truly international perspective, "Modernism: Designing a New World" offers a reassessment of the concept and reveals the fundamental ways in which it has shaped our world and its visual culture.
Modernism flourished between 1914 and 1939, and became a key point of reference for 20th-century architecture, art, and design. This important, lavishly illustrated book demonstrates the movement's continued influence, on everything from the chairs we sit on to the buildings we occupy. The range of objects illustrated-including the fine arts as well as architecture, furniture, manufactured products, film, and graphic design-reflect the period's emphasis on the unity of the arts. Key artists and designers include Mondrian, Le Corbusier, Bourke-White, Eisenstein, and Breuer, along with lesser-known figures from around the globe. less Juliet GardinerThis is a huge book. It’s wonderful. I think it’s one of the best exhibition catalogues I’ve ever seen. What I like so much is that it’s a very generous and wide interpretation of modernism and you can enjoy it without ever having seen the exhibition. It looks at modernism in all its forms of design – from furniture to clothes, but above all in architecture. I think that it’s architecture that so... (Source)
See more recommendations for this book...
4
The Fortnight in September embodies the kind of mundane normality the men in the dug-out longed for – domestic life at 22 Corunna Road in Dulwich, the train journey via Clapham Junction to the south coast, the two weeks living in lodgings and going to the beach every day. The family’s only regret is leaving their garden where, we can imagine, because it is September the dahlias are at their fiery best: as they flash past in the train they get a glimpse of their back garden, where ‘a shaft of sunlight fell through the side passage and lit up the clump of white asters by the apple tree.’ This... more The Fortnight in September embodies the kind of mundane normality the men in the dug-out longed for – domestic life at 22 Corunna Road in Dulwich, the train journey via Clapham Junction to the south coast, the two weeks living in lodgings and going to the beach every day. The family’s only regret is leaving their garden where, we can imagine, because it is September the dahlias are at their fiery best: as they flash past in the train they get a glimpse of their back garden, where ‘a shaft of sunlight fell through the side passage and lit up the clump of white asters by the apple tree.’ This was what the First World War soldiers longed for; this, he imagined, was what he was fighting for and would return to (as in fact Sherriff did).
He had had the idea for his novel at Bognor Regis: watching the crowds go by, and wondering what their lives were like at home, he ‘began to feel the itch to take one of those families at random and build up an imaginary story of their annual holiday by the sea...I wanted to write about simple, uncomplicated people doing normal things.’ less Juliet GardinerThis is an intimate story. I don’t mean in a sexual way, but it’s very detailed and up close. RC Sherriff is best known for the play Journey’s End. He had fought in World War I, had been wounded at Ypres and wrote Journey’s End, which was an immediate success. After that his career had taken a bit of a plunge. But then he went on holiday with his mother to Bognor and suddenly the idea of The... (Source)
See more recommendations for this book...
5
An invaluable guide to the art and mind of Virginia Woolf, drawn by her husband from the personal record she kept over a period of twenty-seven years. Included are entries that refer to her own writing, others that are clearly writing exercises; accounts of people and scenes relevant to the raw material of her work; and comments on books she was reading. Edited and with a Preface by Leonard Woolf; Indices.
more An invaluable guide to the art and mind of Virginia Woolf, drawn by her husband from the personal record she kept over a period of twenty-seven years. Included are entries that refer to her own writing, others that are clearly writing exercises; accounts of people and scenes relevant to the raw material of her work; and comments on books she was reading. Edited and with a Preface by Leonard Woolf; Indices.
less Juliet GardinerI think she is the finest diarist of the 20th century. Nobody comes near her. She is so brilliant, but she’s snobbish and anti-semitic. (Source)
See more recommendations for this book...
Don't have time to read Juliet Gardiner's favorite books? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.