Category Archives: World War II

Evelyn and Randolph in WWII Yugoslavia

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

In the new issue of the collected lectures of the British Studies seminar at the Unversity of Texas, there is a lecture entitled “Evelyn Waugh and Randolph Churchill in Yugoslavia”. This is by biographer and literary critic Jeffrey Meyers who … Continue reading →

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75th Anniversary of Brideshead Airdrop

Posted on November 20, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

75 years ago today, the page proofs of Brideshead Revisited were dropped by parachute into Yugoslavia and retrieved by Evelyn Waugh. This event is recorded in his diary entry for Monday, 20 November 1944 (Diaries, p. 592). This is the … Continue reading →

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Early October Roundup

Posted on October 4, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

–In the current issue of TLS, writer Henry Hitchins reviews the two recent collections of the writings of Auberon Waugh. The review, entitled “Like a fine whine”, opens with this: “Looking back over my career to date, and at all … Continue reading →

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Wodehouse Memorial Dedicated in Westminster Abbey

Posted on September 21, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

Several papers carry the story of the dedication yesterday of a memorial plaque to P G Wodehouse in Westminster Abbey. This is from the Financial Times: Nestled above playwright Noël Coward and to the right of broadcaster Richard Dimbleby, a … Continue reading →

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New French Edition of Waugh Wartime Diary

Posted on September 10, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

Later this week an edition of Waugh’s wartime diaries in French translation will be published. This is entitled Journal de guerre (1939-1945). It is translated by Julia Mayle and published by Les Belles Lettres. Boldly featured on the bottom of … Continue reading →

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80th Anniversary of WWII

Posted on September 1, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the beginning of WWII when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. The attack fulfilled Evelyn Waugh’s expectations that a war was imminent after Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact the previous week. See … Continue reading →

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Basil Seal Rides Yet Again

Posted on August 28, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

The Daily Telegraph has a review of a book entitled Master of Deception: The Wartime Adventures of Peter Fleming by Alan Ogden. This is about something called D Division (or “deception organization”) in the Inter-Services Liaison Department. Peter Fleming, Ian’s older … Continue reading →

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Roundup: Witchcraft and Victory

Posted on August 26, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

–The Daily Telegraph reviews a new history of witchcraft since 1800 entitled Cursed Britain by Thomas Waters. The review is by Robert Leigh-Pemberton and opens with this: The “Swahili witch doctor”, installed in rooms “off the Edgware Road” by the … Continue reading →

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80th Anniversary of Nazi/Soviet Non-Aggression Pact Marked

Posted on August 23, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

The French news website Contrepoints has reposted a 2014 article by British journalist and politician Daniel Hannan (“The biggest success of the left: to forget the German-Soviet pact”). The article was written on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of … Continue reading →

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War Novels Revival

Posted on August 17, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

William Boyd writing in the Daily Telegraph reviews the first four books in a new series published by the Imperial War Museum. These are notable novels from WWII that have been relatively neglected. See previous post. Boyd opens his review … Continue reading →

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