A Life of Contrasts A Life of Contrasts A Life of Contrasts is the autobiography of Diana Mitford (sister of novelist Nancy Mitford, journalist Jessica Mitford, and memoirist Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire) that was first published by in 1977. In 2002 she released a revised edition of the book. In the autobiography, Mitford recounts her colourful past, including her marriage to Sir Oswald Mosley, founder of the British Union of Fascists, her association with Nazi figures and her subsequent three-year internment under Defence Regulation 18B. She also recounts her friendships with leading literary figures Evelyn Waugh, Harold Acton, John Betjeman and Lytton Strachey. In
Jessica (given name) Jessica (given name) Jessica (originally Iessica, also Jesica, Jesika, Jessicah, Jessika, or Jessikah) is a female given name. The oldest written record of the name with its current spelling is found as the name of the Shakespearean character Jessica, from the play "The Merchant of Venice". The name may have been an Anglicisation of the biblical Iscah (from the Hebrew: יִסְכָּה : yiskāh), the name of a daughter of Haran briefly mentioned in the Book of Genesis 11:29. Iscah was rendered "Iesca" (Jeska) in the Matthew Bible version available in Shakespeare's day. The original Hebrew name "Yiskāh", means "foresight", or