Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

'I have read every word of it. It has life and good nature. It is full of fun - written with an easy, vivid English' Somerset Maugham in The Sunday Times

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

'An amazing book.' - "Sunday Times"
'With this book he establishes his claim to rank as a vastly entertaining observer of human life. He has a very attractive style, a frequently delicious humour, and a dramatic sense of situation.' - Arthur Waugh, "The Daily Telegraph"
'Brilliantly original.' - "The Guardian"
'It is altogether a brilliant affair.' - "Bystander"
Brian Elme ekes out a livelihood making up stories about celebrities for a tabloid gossip column. When an angry Lady Julia Cressey spots one of Brian's stories about her, it looks like the end of his journalism career - until she sees how young and handsome he is. Overnight, Brian finds himself the star of society, charming everyone with his beauty and ingenuousness and growing accustomed to late night parties, decadent dinners, and eternal cocktails. As Brian finds himself led down the path of depravity by his new friends, will he be able to maintain his innocence?
Beverley Nichols (1898-1983) was one of the 'Bright Young People', a group of socialites well-known in 1920s London for their drinking, drug use, and elaborate parties, and in this novel he satirized the set to which he belonged. Inspired in part by Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and an influence on Evelyn Waugh's novels, "Crazy Pavements" (1927) was a bestseller in its day and has lost none of its ferocious humour. This edition, the first in more than seventy years, includes a new introduction by David Deutsch discussing the novel's themes, including its gay subtexts.

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

NEWS OF ENGLAND Or, A Country Pf ttkout A Hero By BEVERLEY NICHOLS DOUBLEDAY, DORAN COMPANY, INC. New York 1938 CL COPYRIGHT, 1938 BY BEVERIBY NICHOLS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FIRST EDITION FOR FRANCIS YEATS-BROWN Bengal Lancer Dear Y-B, There was a day when you disagreed so strongly with one of my books that you honoured me by writing a reply to it. Across the cover of that book was printed in large letters, Beverley Nichols Refuted. I wish that on the cover of this book I might return the compliment, and write Yeats-Brown Refuted 9 . But News of England, far from being a refutation of your philoso phy, is in some ways an endorsement of it. That, at least, is how it seems to me. You are too generous a man to say told you so. The fact remains that you did, and I am glad to have the opportunity of here acknowledging it. As ever, B. N. Contents CHAPTER PAGE I A COUNTRY WITHOUT A HERO ... i II TOWERS OF BABEL 17 III THE SOUND OF THE SIRENS .... 30 IV UP IN THE CLOUDS 45 V THE GODDESS OF CHANCE .... 59 VI THE SOBER TRUTH 74 VII THE FLOCK AND THE FATHERS ... 85 VIII STUDY IN RED 101 IX HOME OF LOST CAUSES 117 X PAGLIACCI 134 XI SOCIETY PAGEANT 143 XII FINE FEATHERS 157 XIII DIVERTISSEMENT 168 XIV WAVE LENGTH 180 XV SOFTLY, SOFTLY, CATCHEE MONKEY., 196 vii CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XVI DISTRESSED AREA 213 XVII BLACK DIAMONDS 227 XVIII DOWN THE MINE 237 XIX INTERLUDE AT LINCOLN 245 XX UNKNOWN QUANTITY 261 XXI THE BITTER END 284 mii NEWS OF ENGLAND Or, A Country Without A Hero CHAPTER I A Country Without a Hero A GREY CLOAK, a brace of greyhounds, a pair of gilt spurs, a pound of cumin, a salmon spear, a pair of white gloves, a hundred shillings and a pound of pepper, . . these are the gifts which, inthe year 1938, are still presented to King George VI of England on his visit to the Duchy of Cornwall. He travels from London by one of the speediest trains in the world. It flies through a country that even his father would hardly recognize, so quickly are the old landmarks passing. As he receives these feudal dues, which seem to have been brought not only from another civilization but from another world, the fastest bombers in Europe dip in salute, high above him. But still the ancient gifts are laid at his feet ... a grey cloak, a brace of greyhounds, a pair of gilt spurs. It is not merely a picturesque anachronism. It is a highly significant trait in the national character, that character which clings steadfastly to ancient forms, long after the realities which moulded them have been for NEWS OF ENGLAND gotten, and long after the spirit which inspired them has died away. It is as significant as the bunch of newly-cut flowers which the Recorder of London always carries with him as, in his scarlet robe, he enters the court of the Old Bailey to administer the law of the land. The fragrance of those flowers drifts back through the centuries, to the time when the stench of the wicked was so over powering that the delicate nostrils of the court were offended, and sought protection in the pinks and laven ders which might then be plucked not so very far away, in the fields of Lincolns Inn, To-day, the prisoner at the bar has had a bath, whether he likes it or not. The court is air-conditioned and centrally heated. But the flowers remain in the hand of the Recorder, apparently fadeless a symbol of the unbroken continuity of English law. It is this almost passionate adherence to the languageof the past, at the very moment when we are thinking in the language of the future and often determining the cadences of that language, this obstinate practice of pouring our new wine into old bottles, which makes England the despair of foreign observers. A country which so persistently says one thing and does another is inexplicable. Worse than inexplicable. Perfide. At the same time, it is exceedingly interesting. More interesting to-day than at any time in history...

'I have read every word of it. It has life and good nature. It is full of fun - written with an easy, vivid English' Somerset Maugham in The Sunday Times

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.