Describes the girl and her writing. I'd like to see a17-year-old girl begin a diary thus:"The drawbacks of keeping a diary are manifold; if it is intimate enough to be interesting to oneself if invariably becomes prey to the inquisitive housemaid; if contains truthful criticisms on one's near & dear ones one runs the risk of alienating them for life—the only alternative is is to keep a record of one's meals walks & literature & this is hardly worth the ink & paper to say nothing of the waste of time. So beset by many dangers and trusting in Mr. Macmichael's lock as my sole security I have resolved to enter on the former more paying though more risky course."This is just the beginning of the prose we're treated to as a girl becomes a woman in what's been called Europe's Last Summer. The volume ends with the start of the Great War, and the second volume ends with the end of World War II. Anyone who doesn't understand that personalities inform policies which make history, which answers the question of why and how we got to where we are, will find this diary useless and tedious or boring. This is a refection on them rather than on this enormous candy story of sparkling wit and insight from a beautiful soul who paid attention, while in the thick of the movers and shakers who made the world that made our world. She experienced those people as people, while never hiding what she was herself. I should add that Violet was close to her father Herbert Asquith, prime minister of England, who led his people into the Great War, called the great catastrophe of the 20th century. Among the many consequences of this war was the end of the world this diary records—a beautiful world which, were it not for the monumental fiasco Europe seems to have tripped into, would have evolved into a far, far better world today. With far better people.I'm a history buff especially interested in the world wars. The causes of WWII are pretty easy to unravel, but those of WWI still bedevil historians as it bedeviled those who led their people into it. Biographies are of individuals. This diary is of individuals interacting. Individually, they are good people, but together they created evil. I think the insight into this group behavior through the lens of a well-placed, well-endowed observer is invaluable for those who care about history.