The Unexpurgated Beaton (ed)(2002) Hardback (UK) 2002 Paperback (UK) 2002 Hardback (US) 2003 Paperback (US) 2005 Here, for the first time, are Cecil Beaton's diaries - unexpurgated. For more than forty years Beaton - royal and society photographer, theatre and film designer - kept a frank and revealing journal. In his lifetime Beaton published six slim selections culled from 145 manuscript volumes - but rather than hurt anyone's feelings he doctored the entries. As he went through the pages some were even sellotaped shut so that his typist was unable to read them. On more than one occasion, Cecil himself merely wrote: 'No!' in the margin. Introduced by his biographer Hugo Vickers, who has made the selection and annoted the entries, The Unexpurgated Cecil Beaton draws on previously unpublished diaries from the years 1970 to 1980. Just as his photographs were heavily retouched and beautified until he could present the image he desired, so too were these diaries. In this new selection the retouching is erased. For the first time they are presented as written. Few escape unscathed, royalty included. The cast list is a Who's Who of the haute monde. As this volume opens he has just finished an unhappy spell working with Katharine Hepburn ('the egomaniac of all time') in Coco, a less than successful musical about Chanel. Here is Beaton himself experimenting with LSD, contemplating the diminution in his sexual energy following a prostate operation, enjoying the hospitality of the rich and the famous, still working hard as a photographer, of royalty and for Vogue, painting, and always writing candidly about those around him. At last we can read what he says and thinks- raw and unvarnished. UK paperback and US Hardback in print. Some copies available via this site, which can be signed by the editor. Apply: booksales@wyeford.co.uk