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William Boot
William Boot is a fictional journalist who is the protagonist in the 1938 Evelyn Waugh comic novel '' Scoop.'' Character Boot is the young author of a regular column on country life for a London newspaper named the ''Daily Beast''. His affected style is typified in the notorious sentence "Feather-footed through the plashy fen passes the questing vole". After the ''Daily Beast's'' publisher mistakes him for the "real" war correspondent John Boot, William is sent abroad as a foreign correspondent to the fictional African state of Ishmaelia which is on the brink of a civil war. Although he is completely inept, he accidentally gets the 'scoop' of the title. Inspiration for character It has been suggested that Waugh based the character of William Boot on his own experiences and on the legendary journalist Bill Deedes; the two had reported together in 1936, trying to cover the Second Italo-Abyssinian War and Deedes arrived in Addis Ababa aged 22 with almost 600 pounds of luggage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decline and Fall'' (1928) and ''A Handful of Dust'' (1934), the novel ''Brideshead Revisited'' (1945), and the Second World War trilogy ''Sword of Honour'' (1952–1961). He is recognised as one of the great prose stylists of the English language in the 20th century. Waugh, the son of a publisher, was educated at Lancing College and then at Hertford College, Oxford. He worked briefly as a schoolmaster before he became a full-time writer. As a young man, he acquired many fashionable and aristocratic friends and developed a taste for country house society. He travelled extensively in the 1930s, often as a special newspaper correspondent; he reported from Ethiopian Empire, Abyssinia at the time of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935 Italian inva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in European theatre of World War I, Europe and the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, Middle East, as well as in parts of African theatre of World War I, Africa and the Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I, Asia-Pacific, and in Europe was characterised by trench warfare; the widespread use of Artillery of World War I, artillery, machine guns, and Chemical weapons in World War I, chemical weapons (gas); and the introductions of Tanks in World War I, tanks and Aviation in World War I, aircraft. World War I was one of the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflicts in history, resulting in an estimated World War I casualties, 10 million military dead and more than 20 million wounded, plus some 10 million civilian de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard (; born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and political freedom, often delving into the deeper philosophical bases of society. Stoppard has been a playwright of the Royal National Theatre, National Theatre and is one of the most internationally performed dramatists of his generation. He was Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, knighted for his contribution to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997. Born in First Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovakia, Stoppard left as a child refugee, fleeing German occupation of Czechoslovakia, imminent Nazi occupation. He settled with his family in Britain after the war, in 1946, having spent the previous three years (1943–1946) in a boarding school in Darjeeling in the Indian Himalayas. After being educated at schools in Nottingham and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barry Took
Barry Took (19 June 192831 March 2002) was an English writer, television presenter and comedian. His decade-and-a-half writing partnership with Marty Feldman led to the television series '' Bootsie and Snudge'', the radio comedy ''Round the Horne'' and other projects. He is also remembered in the UK for presenting '' Points of View'', a BBC Television programme featuring viewers' letters on the BBC's output, and the BBC Radio 4 programme '' The News Quiz''. Took was known as the "Father of Monty Python", for bringing together the comedy performers who would establish ''Monty Python's Flying Circus''. Early life and education The son of a manager at the Danish Bacon Company, Took was born in Victoria Road, Muswell Hill, north London, and lived in Winton Avenue, Bounds Green. When evacuated to Wisbech in Cambridgeshire during the Second World War, he ran away from his assigned home there, cycling 20 miles to Peterborough in order to get a train back to London. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Worth (actor, Born 1917)
Harry Bourlon Illingsworth (20 November 1917 – 20 July 1989), professionally known as Harry Worth, was an English comedy actor, comedian and ventriloquist. Worth portrayed a charming, gentle and genial character, totally bemused by life, creating comedic confusion wherever he went. Early life Worth was born in Hoyland, Hoyland Common, West Riding of Yorkshire, the youngest child of a miner. He had ten siblings. When he was only five months old, his father died from injuries resulting from an industrial accident. He left school at 14 and was a miner for eight years. He earned Pounds, shillings and pence, 2 shillings 2½ pence a day and worked near the lift in the mine; he said he hated every minute of it. He joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1941.''Daily Mirror'', 15 August 1971, page 11: "Harry Lands a Scoop" As a teenager, he was in the Tankersley, South Yorkshire, Tankersley Amateur Dramatics Society and taught himself ventriloquism from a book he borrowed from the lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scoop (1987 Film)
''Scoop'' is a 1987 television film directed by Gavin Millar, adapted by William Boyd from the 1938 satirical novel ''Scoop'' by Evelyn Waugh. It was produced by Sue Birtwistle with executive producers Nick Elliott and Patrick Garland. Original music was made by Stanley Myers. The story is about a reporter sent to the fictional African state of Ishmaelia by accident. Plot In a case of mistaken identity, a naive young columnist for ''The Daily Beast'' is sent to cover a war in Ishmaelia. A confused editor, Mr. Salter (Denholm Elliott), acting on the orders of his much feared 'boss', Lord Copper (Donald Pleasence), tells William Boot (Michael Maloney) to cover the ongoing war as the correspondent for the ''Beast''. Boot normally writes about British country life, but is too timid, and worried about losing his job for good, to say otherwise when he is ordered overseas. Boot is soon up to his neck in intrigue. All the foreign journalists are confined to the capital of Ishmaelia, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Maloney
Michael Maloney (born 19 June 1957) is a British actor. Life and career Born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Maloney's first television appearance was as Peter Barkworth's teenage son in the 1979 drama series ''Telford's Change''. He made his West End debut in 1979 in ''Can you Hear me at The Back'', by Brian Clark, followed immediately by ''Taking Steps'' by Alan Ayckbourn. After playing Toby Gashe in ''The Bell'', by Iris Murdoch, Maloney joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1982 playing Ferdinand in ''The Tempest''. After the RSC, he went on to play in ''The Perfectionist'' at Hampstead, the title role of Peer Gynt for Cambridge Theatre Company, ''The London Cuckolds'' at the Lyric Hammersmith, ''Two Planks and a Passion'' by Anthony Minghella, directed by Danny Boyle at Greenwich and ''Built on Sand'' at the Royal Court. Maloney went on to appear in many films and television series, including ''What if Its Raining'', by Anthony Minghella, for Channel 4. He became a famili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Percy Izzard
Percy William David Izzard (September 1877 – 17 June 1968) was the first regular agricultural and horticultural correspondent in the popular press and wrote for the ''Daily Mail'' for a period of 50 years. He authored several books on gardening. Biography Percy Izzard studied at King's College London but dropped out and went looking for a job to support his family after his father passed away. He started as an errand boy for the ''Daily Express'', and joined the ''Daily Mail'' in 1909 where he covered the funeral of Edward VII the following year. His family was not able to identify at which point in his life Izzard turned to gardening and botanic. He was noted for his book ''Homeland: A Year of Country Days'', a collection of 365 of his "Country Diary" columns from the ''Daily Mail'', with black-and-white illustrations by his wife Florence Louise Izzard and Will G. Mein. Glorifying UK's great countrysides in the ''Daily Mail'' during World War I turned out to be an effective ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (founded in 1821), are published by Times Media, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' were founded independently and have had common ownership only since 1966. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. ''The Times'' was the first newspaper to bear that name, inspiring numerous other papers around the world. In countries where these other titles are popular, the newspaper is often referred to as or , although the newspaper is of national scope and distribution. ''The Times'' had an average daily circulation of 365,880 in March 2020; in the same period, ''The Sunday Times'' had an average weekly circulation of 647,622. The two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Stothard
Sir Peter Stothard (born 28 February 1951) is a British author, journalist and critic. From 1992 to 2002 he was editor of ''The Times'' and from 2002 to 2016 editor of ''The Times Literary Supplement'', the only journalist to have held both roles. He writes books about Roman history and his four books of memoir cover both political and classical themes. Early life He was the son of Max Stothard, an electrical engineer who worked at the Marconi Research Centre, Great Baddow. He grew up on the nearby Rothmans Estate. He was educated at Brentwood School, Essex (1962–68); and Trinity College, Oxford, where he became editor of Oxford University student newspaper '' Cherwell.'' Career Stothard joined the BBC after leaving university, and wrote for the ''New Statesman'', ''New Society'' and '' Plays and Players''. He joined ''The Sunday Times'' in 1978 and ''The Times'' in 1981, becoming chief leader writer, deputy editor and, based in Washington, US editor. He published ''Thirt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comic Novel
A comic novel is a Novel, novel-length work of humorous fiction. Many well-known authors have written comic novels, including P. G. Wodehouse, Henry Fielding, Mark Twain, and John Kennedy Toole. Comic novels are often defined by the author's literary choice to make the thrust of the work—in its narration or plot—funny or satirical in orientation, regardless of the putative seriousness of the topics addressed. Definition Novels, books, plays, and many works of fiction or art can certainly contain and include passages or themes that are comic, humorous or Satire, satirical, but the defining characteristic of this genre is that comedy is the framework and baseline of the story, rather than an occasional or recurring motif. It is the through-line and organizing genre for the novel's tone, orientation and sensibility. A reader is not expected to 'find' or 'discover' a humorous moment within the reality of the text, rather, humor is the ongoing mood, like a comedy movie, rather th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Beach Thomas
Sir William Beach Thomas, (22 May 186812 May 1957) was a British author and journalist known for his work as a war correspondent and his writings about nature and country life. Thomas was the son of a clergyman in Cambridgeshire. He was educated at Shrewsbury School and Christ Church, Oxford, before he embarked on a short-lived career as a schoolmaster. Finding that work unpleasant, he turned his attention to writing articles for newspapers and periodicals and began to write books. During the early part of the First World War, Thomas defied military authorities to report news stories from the Western Front (World War I), Western Front for his employer, the ''Daily Mail''. As a result, he was briefly arrested before being granted official accreditation as a war correspondent. His reportage for the remainder of the war received national recognition, despite being criticised by some and parodied by soldiers. His book ''With the British on the Somme'' (1917) portrayed th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
