Nancy Mitford, CBE (28 November 1904, London – 30 June 1973, Versailles), styled The Hon. Nancy Mitford before her marriage and The Hon. Mrs Peter Rodd thereafter, was an English novelist and biographer, one of the Bright Young People on the London social scene in the inter-war years. She was born at 1 Graham Street (now Graham Place) in Belgravia, London, the eldest daughter of Lord Redesdale and was brought up at Asthall Manor in Oxfordshire. She was the eldest of the six controversial Mitford sisters.She is best remembered for her series of novels about upper-class life in England and France, particularly the four published after 1945; but she also wrote four well-received, well-researched popular biographies (of Louis XIV, Madame de Pompadour, Voltaire, and Frederick the Great). She was one of the noted Mitford sisters and the first to publicise the extraordinary family life of her very English and very eccentric family, giving rise to a "Mitford industry" which continues.Her Published Works:Novels: Highland Fling (1931) Christmas Pudding (1932) Wigs on the Green (1935) Pigeon Pie (1940) The Pursuit of Love (1945) Love in a Cold Climate (1949) The Blessing (1951) Don't Tell Alfred (1960)Non-Fiction: Madame de Pompadour (1954) Voltaire in Love (1957) The preface to Saint-Simon at Versailles by Lucy Norton (1958) The Water Beetle (1962) The Sun King (1966) Frederick the Great (1970) A Talent to Annoy; Essays, Journalism and Reviews 1929–1968 edited by Charlotte Mosley (1986)Collections of Letters: Love from Nancy: The Letters of Nancy Mitford edited by Charlotte Mosley (1993) The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh edited by Charlotte Mosley (1996) The Bookshop at 10 Curzon Street: Letters between Nancy Mitford and Heywood Hill 1952–73 edited by John Saumarez Smith (2004) The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters edited by Charlotte Mosley (2007)Works as Editor: The Ladies of Alderley: Letters 1841–1850 (1938) The Stanleys of Alderley: Their letters 1851–1865 (1939)(Mitford edited these two volumes of letters, written by the family of her great-grandparents, Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley and his wife Henrietta Maria, daughter of the 13th Viscount Dillon). Noblesse Oblige (1956)
