Some quotes from readers of the JOURNAL It's really very good and brought back a lot of memories. It's a very vivid depiction of student life in West London just before the 'swinging' time. David Hockney - Artist _________________________________ A remarkable book: a brilliant record of life over five years, excellently written and full of inspired attention to detail. Kate Pemberton - Ambit Magazine _________________________________ Fascinating - there is a marvellous sense of suspended time and the combination of youthful pronouncements and anxieties, with the contemporary news commentaries, is winning. Liz Calder: Bloomsbury _________________________________ Kate Paul's Journal is a treasure trove for any historian interested in the ways in which British culture and society changed during the 1950s and 1960s. Few archives so accurately and poignantly capture this country's miraculous transition from austere greyness to the multicoloured world of 'swinging' pop. Dr Alex Seago: author of Burning the Box of Beautiful Things: The Development of a Postmodern Sensibility (Oxford University Press) _________________________________ I read the Journal straight through and was transported through the years. It has an urgency, a determination, a willingness to tell the truth and avoid cant: it is critical of self, family, society, God. Of course it contains inconsistencies and contradictions but at the age at which it was written which of us did otherwise? - supposing, that is, we were given to any reflective thought at all. Laurie Fricker - Associate: University of Portsmouth. _________________________________ This is the best diary of student life of its time, possibly the best of all time. Christopher Handley, bibliographer/bookseller _________________________________ 'Sitting in the candlelit gloom of The Troubadour, watching the passing show of personalities, many to make their mark in later years - Kate Paul, with her hilarious sense of humour, at the same time broodingly recording her progress to self-awareness and making a document that so recalled that peculiarly vivid time - the early Sixties. Read it!' Josh Kirby - Painter and Cover artist for Discworld _________________________________ Reading the Journal was an emotional experience. I found a great resonance with my own experience as a young woman in the 60s, struggling to find an identity in the art world: the difficulty of reconciling one's sense of what it was to be a woman with a full indentity as a thinking, critical, creative person. The Journal gives a fascinating insight into some of these tensions. The writing of such an extensive, intense, thoughtful and honest document at such a young age is impressive and significant in its own right. Sue Watling - Lecturer, Somerset College of Art _________________________________ I liked the Journal a lot and found myself sniggering sympathetically. Julie Christie: actress and Human Rights campaigner _________________________________ I liked the book instantly - the look, the feel of the paper and the images on the cover bring all the teenage heartache back in one great swoosh. _________________________________ Riveting - I enjoyed it immensely and read it straight through. I think the Journal is so special... Brilliant - I was riveted - a great document, so revealing and beautifully written. I thoroughly enjoyed your wonderful Journal - a super achievement. A wonderful journal and a really compelling read. The Journal is the most true and harrowing account of the agonies of youth... Terrific! I was hit by a wave of nostalgia just handling the book. Fascinating, remarkable and a great read. *