This second volume of Edward Bond's notebooks covers the period from Restoration, his historic drama with songs, to Eleven Vests, his play for young people written for Big Brum Theatre-in-Education "There is a cliché - which is also false - that all creative writing is autobiographical. If I were to be asked when you write do you write about your life I would answer when I write I am living my life." Including first drafts of plays, ideas and thoughts on characters, themes, actions and dramatic technique, this selection of notes provides a glimpse into the working mind of one of the world's most provocative playwrights. Alongside the commentaries on the plays, Bond's notes also contain stories and poems. His philosophy on theatre and art and his views on the role of the writer in society are included. Emphasis is given to Bond's critical response to political and moral issues such as Thatcherism, the monarchy, nuclear war, Britain's social classes and our definitions of good and evil.

In this first volume of notebooks, Edward Bond reveals himself to be one of the finest and most creative minds to have emerged in the twentieth century. Exploring the meeting point between politics and the art of the writer, Bond's notes chart the creative progress of his work and thinking over a twenty-year period, from 1959, when his first plays started to be produced at London's Royal Court Theatre, to 1979, when he had achieved fame as a major writer. While providing a detailed commentary on his plays the Notebooks also contain early play drafts, poems and stories, his thoughts on life, Brecht, art and dramatic method as well as his notes on censorship.

In this first volume of notebooks, Edward Bond reveals himself to be one of the finest and most creative minds to have emerged in the twentieth century. Exploring the meeting point between politics and the art of the writer, Bond s notes chart the creative progress of his work and thinking over a twenty-year period, from 1959, when his first plays started to be produced at London s Royal Court Theatre, to 1979, when he had achieved fame as a major writer. While providing a detailed commentary on his plays the "Notebooks "also contain early play drafts, poems and stories, his thoughts on life, Brecht, art and dramatic method as well as his notes on censorship."

Volume one of Edward Bond's notebooks charts the progress of his work, from 1959, when his plays were first produced at the Royal Court Theatre, to 1980, when he had achieved fame as a major writer. As well as commenting on his plays, it also considers his poems and stories. Exploring the meeting point between politics and the art of the writer, Bond's notes offer a rare insight into one of the theatre's foremost thinkers whilst charting the creative progress of his work between 1959 and 1980. As well as providing a detailed commentary on his plays, the notebooks also contain early play drafts, poems and stories, his thoughts on life, art, Brecht, dramatic method and censorship. "1 August 1965: I would do almost anything to prevent my play [Saved] being banned except alter one comma at the request of the Lord Chamberlain." Edward Bond is "a great playwright - many, particularly in continental Europe, would say the greatest living English playwright" (Independent)

First Published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.