Humphrey Richard "Hugh" Slater (1906–1958) was an English author and painter. Born in Carlisle, Cumberland in 1906, he spent his early childhood in South Africa, where his father served in Military Intelligence in Pretoria, before returning to England. He attended the Slade School of Art in the mid-1920s,Buckman, David (13 November 1998)
"Art-Historical Notes: Where are the Hirsts of the 1930s now?"
''The Independent''. and exhibited an abstract painting at Lucy Wertheim's gallery, a leading London gallery. Painter William Coldstream considered him "a very gifted and rare artist". Getting involved in anti-Nazi politics in Berlin in the early 1930s, he joined the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

. On the outbreak of

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

in 1936 he went to Madrid as a war correspondent, returning the following year to join the International Brigade, where he became Chief of Operations. Back in England, he helped Tom Wintringham set up the

Osterley Park Osterley Park is a Georgian era, Georgian country estate in west London, which straddles the London boroughs of London Borough of Ealing, Ealing and London Borough of Hounslow, Hounslow. Originally dating from the 1570s, the estate contains a ...

training centre in 1940 which taught guerilla warfare and street fighting for the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting ...

before being drafted into the regular army as a private. The public outcry led to questions being asked in Parliament and an article in the magazine ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

''. He was also editor of the short-lived magazine ''

Polemic Polemic ( , ) is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics, which are seen in arguments on controversial to ...

'' (1945–1947).Orwell, Sonia and Angus, Ian (eds.). ''The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 2: My Country Right or Left''. London: Penguin. Slater wrote the

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

''The Heretics'' (1946). ''The Heretics'' had two parts: the first set in France during the

Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade (), also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted pri ...

and the second part set in Spain during the

. Slater drew a parallel in ''The Heretics'' between the persecution of the Albigensians in France and that of the

Trotskyists Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as a ...

in 1930s Spain. The MGM film '' Conspirator'' (1949), starring

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

and Robert Taylor, was based on his novel ''The Conspirator''.

Publications

* 1941: ''Home Guard for Victory!'' Gollancz"Fascimile"
* 1946: ''The Heretics''Orwell, Sonia 8and Angus, Ian (eds.). ''The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 4: In Front of Your Nose (1945-1950)''. London: Penguin. * 1948: ''The Conspirator'' * 1955: ''Who rules Russia?'' Batchworth Press (London) * 1958: ''The Channel Tunnel'' A. Wingate (London) * 2009: ''Los herejes'', Spanish translation of ''The Heretics''; Galaxia Gutenberg/Círculo de Lectores (Barcelona). Translated by Montserrat Gurguí and Hernán Sabaté. * 2009: ''El conspirador'', Spanish translation of ''The Conspirator''; Galaxia Gutenberg/Círculo de Lectores (Barcelona). Translated by M. Gurguí and H. Sabaté.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Humphrey 1906 births 1958 deaths Communist Party of Great Britain members British people of the Spanish Civil War English columnists English communists English male novelists 20th-century English novelists Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages English expatriates in South Africa International Brigades personnel War correspondents of the Spanish Civil War