Love Letters of Great Men

Synopsis: From the private papers of Mark Twain and Mozart to those of Robert Browning and Nelson, Love Letters of Great Men collects together some of the most romantic letters in history. For some of these great men, love is a 'delicious poison' (William Congreve); for others, 'a nice soft wife on a sofa with good fire, & books & music' (Charles Darwin). Love can scorch like the heat of the sun (Henry VIII), or penetrate the depths of one's heart like a cooling rain (Flaubert). Every shade of love is here, from the exquisite eloquence of Oscar Wilde and the simple devotion of Robert Browning, to the wonderfully modern misery of the Roman Pliny the Younger, losing himself in work to forget how much he misses his beloved wife, Calpurnia. Taken together, these Love Letters of Great Men show that perhaps men haven't changed so very much over the last 2,000 years; passion, jealousy, hope and longing are all represented here as is the simple pleasure of sending a letter to, and receiving one from, the person you love most.

Review: For all romantics everywhere, this collection harks back to a time before telephones were invented and the only way of saying those three little words to anyone was to write them down and send them. Oh the joy of picking these up off the mat (or the silver salver) instead of bills, it would certainly cheer up your Monday morning. All things considered, it's hard to think that Henry VIII was ever soft hearted enough to write love letters. The one included here is to Anne Boleyn, and you can't help thinking that she would have been better off selling it on Ebay and using the proceeds to buy a one way ticket to farawayland. He included this little epistle with a gift, but before you start thinking he was nothing but a slushy old bear .. the gift was his own image set in a bracelet :0 Credit to him though for knowing that a necklace wouldn't be much good to her (sorry .. that was below the belt .. or above it .. oh dear, I'll move on.)

Napoleon's letters are a touch accusatory, it seems that whilst he was off fighting wars, Josephine was a bit lax at keeping in touch .. he writes 'what do you do all day, Madame?' and also 'do not put yourself out; run after pleasures; happiness is made for you. the entire world is too glad to be able to please you and only your husband is very, very unhappy'. A lot of the letters are comical but some are also quite sad.

Amongst my favourites were those sent by John Keats to his love Fanny Brawne (and that he could write such tender letters to someone called Fanny Brawne raises him in my estimation .. if you introduced yourself as that nowadays the man would never stop laughing .. mind you I'm having trouble.) John writes lovely things like 'I have been a walk this morning with a book in my hand, but as usual I have been occupied with nothing but you' *sigh* ... however he is a touch jealous and goes on to say that he resents 'my heart having been made a football'.

Other contributors include Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Lord Nelson, Lord Byron, Robbie Burns, Victor Hugo and Gustave Flaubert. Surprisingly there are none here from Winston Churchill who wrote many tender letters to his dear Clemmie but the last letter here was written in 1918 so perhaps his were just a little too late for inclusion.

I didn't read them all at once, I just sort of dipped in every now and then (though I have read them all now.) It does make you long for the days of quills and sealing wax and it can make you get a bit sniffy when your husband leaves you a note telling you not to forget cat food, but it also makes you feel all warm and squidgy like fudge cake.