First published in 1975, this story tells of how a chance meeting in a café, a piece of grit delicately removed by a gentleman from a lady's eye give birth to an affair... a brief yet unrelenting emotional tug-of-war between two people whose spontaneous desire clashes head-on with the 'facts' of their existence.There is Anna, married to Graham and happily content with her home life and two children. There is Alec, trapped in a loveless marriage to cool, uninvolved Melanie, looking ...

First published in 1975, this tells of one of the Bright Young Things in that brilliant and stimulating era between the wars, Alec Waugh remembers 1931 as being a year of firsts. It was the year he attended his first garden party, the year he made his first transatlantic phone call, the year he became a member of the MCC. But it was also a year that marked the end of one epoch and the beginning of another, far less frivolous.Nostalgic for the best of that time, Alec Waugh recalls t...

First published in 1967, this tells of an Author, publisher, traveller, cricketer, lover of wine: Alec Waugh has been all these in the course of a life which has brought him a host of friends around the world. He is a warm person who knows a good friend when he sees one and is revered by all those with whom there has been mutual acceptance.This book contains his memories of many famous writers and some figures no longer so well remembered in the period between the wars.The ...

"The Prisoners of Mainz" by Alec Waugh is a compelling narrative set against the backdrop of World War II. The story revolves around a group of British prisoners held in a German camp, exploring their struggles, camaraderie, and the psychological toll of captivity. Waugh's vivid characterizations and intricate plot weave together themes of resilience, hope, and the human spirit's capacity to endure adversity. The novel captures the essence of wartime experiences, providing readers with a p...

"Public School Life" by Alec Waugh offers a vivid portrayal of the experiences and challenges faced by boys in the British public school system. Through the lens of various characters, Waugh explores the dynamics between students, their parents, and the masters who guide them. The narrative delves into themes of camaraderie, rivalry, and the formative nature of school life, highlighting how these experiences shape the boys into young men. Waugh's keen observations and engaging storytelling...

In this rich and engrossing biography of Thomas Lipton, Alec Waugh has recreated the fascinating and complex figure of a man who became a legend in his own lifetime, a millionaire before he was forty, an unofficial ambassador at large, and an unforgettable sportsman to millions of people.The son of a struggling grocer, Lipton, while still a boy, showed the business acumen that was later to make him millions by expanding his father's small store into a vast network of shops. A love o...

The novel follows the lives of a group of boys at Granta School, focusing primarily on their experiences, friendships, rivalries, and the challenges they face as they navigate adolescence. The title, "The Loom of Youth," refers to the idea that youth is a time of weaving and shaping one's character and future.At its core, the novel delves into themes of friendship, loyalty, rebellion, identity, and the complexities of adolescence. It portrays the struggles and conflicts faced by the charac...

First published in 1951, this is part sentimental journey revisiting old well-loved scenes of former travels, and part search for new, out-of-the-way lands, Alec Waugh's travel book tells of a journey half-way round the world. But in new or old places, the author's sense of romance and adventure, his gift of combining past and present, his ability to create a mood and tell a story provide continuously enlightening and enlivening reading.The chief object of these travels was to visi...

Alec Waugh, who served in the last war as a regular army officer, was recalled to his regiment in September 1939. After a few months of regimental duties he has filled a succession of Junior Staff appointment, with the B.E.F. in France, in London during the Blitz, with the M.E.F in Syria and Egypt and latterly with the Persia and Iraq command. This book is the narrative of his four years in khaki. It makes no attempt to be sensational, but the range and variety of those experiences have pr...

Alec Waugh first saw the West Indies on a trip round the world in 1926 when his ship called in at Guadeloupe. Fifteen months later he returned for a long stay at Martinique; it was the beginning of a lifelong interest in these fascinating islands that were to provide him with the material for many books and articles. In The Sugar Islands, a book to be dipped into at leisure, Mr. Waugh has selected pieces from his writings, with the intention of compiling both a travelogue (there i...

If you enjoyed the powerful atmosphere of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby you may just have an inkling of the smoothly professional efficacy of Alec Waugh's The Fatal Gift. First published in 1973, this novel breathes the values and attitudes of the early decades of the 20th century.Raymond Peronne has wealth, is bright, is devastatingly attractive to women: his fatal gift. Second son of a baronet, Perronne goes to Oxford (from which he is rusticated), then to New Y...

First published in 1931, this is not the only one of Alec Waugh's novels in which he has described the agonies of a couple who are desperately in love but cannot marry, for it is a situation that he has himself lived through. But it is in this novel that he has drawn most specifically upon experiences he has only alluded to in other books.His protagonist is Gordon Carruthers, who was also the hero of The Loom of Youth, that then shocking and revelatory novel of public-scho...