Reginal Ernest Warner (Rex) (9 March 1905 – 24 June 1986) was an English

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

, writer, and translator. He is now probably best remembered for ''The Aerodrome'' (1941).Chris Hopkins, ''English Fiction in the 1930s: Language, Genre, History'' Continuum International Publishing Group, 2007 (pp. 138–57). Warner was described by

V. S. Pritchett Sir Victor Sawdon Pritchett (also known as VSP; 16 December 1900 – 20 March 1997) was a British writer and literary critic. Pritchett was known particularly for his short stories, collated in a number of volumes. Among his most noteworthy w ...

as "the only outstanding novelist of ideas whom the decade of ideas produced"."Rex Warner, 81, Dies; Author and Translator". ''The New York Times'', 17 July 1986

Biographical sketch

He was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England, and brought up mainly in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, the son of the Rev. Frederic Ernest Warner, vicar of Amberley, and his wife Kathleen Luce, daughter of the Rev. John James Luce."Rex Warner (Obituary)". ''The Times''. 27 June 1986. He was educated at St. George's School in

Harpenden Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,674 in the 2021 census, while the population of the civil parish was 31,128. Harpe ...

and at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

, where he associated with

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, ...

Cecil Day-Lewis Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Anglo-Irish poet and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudony ...

, and

Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry ...

and published in ''

Oxford Poetry ''Oxford Poetry'' is a literary magazine based in Oxford, England. It is currently edited by Luke Allan. The magazine is published by Partus Press. Founded in 1910 by Basil Blackwell, its editors have included Dorothy L. Sayers, Aldous Huxle ...

''.

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, particularly of science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has wo ...

, "Introduction" to ''The Aerodrome'', Vintage Classics, 2007. (p. ix–xx) He obtained a 1st in

Classical Moderations Honour Moderations (or ''Mods'') are a set of examinations at the University of Oxford at the end of the first part of some degree courses (e.g., Greats or '' Literae Humaniores''). Honour Moderations candidates have a class awarded (hence the ...

in 1925 and later graduated with a 3rd in English in 1928. He then spent time teaching, some of it in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. Warner's debut story, "Holiday", appeared in the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' in 1930. His first collection, ''Poems'', appeared in 1937. His poem, "Arms in Spain", a satire on

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

support for the

Spanish Nationalists Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in ...

, has often been reprinted. He was also a contributor to ''

Left Review ''Left Review'' was a journal set up by the British section of the Comintern-sponsored International Union of Revolutionary Writers (previously known as the International Bureau for Revolutionary Literature; also known as the Writers' Internationa ...

''. Warner was a great admirer of

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

and his fiction was "profoundly influenced" by Kafka's work. Warner's first three novels all reflect his

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

beliefs; ''The Wild Goose Chase'' is in part a

dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

n fantasy about the overthrow of a tyrannical government in a heroic revolution.Janet Montefiore. ''Men and Women writers of the 1930s: The Dangerous Flood of History''. Routledge, 1996. (pp. 16, 170, 201). His second novel, ''The Professor'', published around the time of the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

, is the story of a liberal academic whose compromises with a repressive government lead eventually to his arrest, imprisonment and murder "while attempting to escape". Contemporary reviewers saw parallels with the Austrian leaders

Engelbert Dollfuss Engelbert Dollfuss (alternatively Dollfuß; 4 October 1892 – 25 July 1934) was an Austrian politician and dictator who served as chancellor of Federal State of Austria, Austria between 1932 and 1934. Having served as Minister for Forests and ...

and

Kurt Schuschnigg Kurt Alois Josef Johann von Schuschnigg (; 14 December 1897 – 18 November 1977) was an Austrian politician who was the Chancellor of Austria, Chancellor of the Federal State of Austria from the 1934 assassination of his predecessor Engelbert D ...

. Although Warner was initially sympathetic to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, "the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...

left him disillusioned with Communism". ''The Aerodrome'' is an

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

novel whose young hero is faced with the disintegration of his certainties about his loved ones, and with a choice between the earthy, animalistic life of his home village and the pure, efficient, emotionally detached life of an airman. ''The Times'' described ''The Aerodrome'' as Warner's "most perfectly accomplished novel". ''Why Was I Killed?'' (1943) is an afterlife fantasy with an anti-war theme. Warner then abandoned contemporary allegory in favour of

historical novels Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

about

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, including ''Imperial Caesar'', for which he was awarded the 1960

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Un ...

for fiction. ''Imperial Caesar'' was praised by John Davenport as "delightfully perceptive and funny", and by

Storm Jameson Margaret Ethel Storm Jameson (8 January 1891 – 30 September 1986) was an English journalist and author, known for her novels and reviews and for her work as President of English PEN between 1938 and 1944. Life and career Jameson was born in ...

as "brilliant, intelligent, continuously interesting. It has everything." ''The Converts'', a novel about

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...

, reflected Warner's own increasing devotion to Christianity. He dedicated it to the Greek poet and diplomat George Seferis. Warner served in 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 ...

during the Second World War and also worked as a Latin teacher at a Grammar School in Morden as there was a shortage of teachers. From 1945 to 1947 he was in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

as Director of the British Institute. At that time he became involved in numerous translations of classical Greek and Latin authors. His translation of

Thucydides Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...

' ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' for Penguin Classics sold over a million copies. He also translated ''Poems of George Seferis'' (1960). Warner's time in Greece coincided with the early stages of the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War () took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II, consisted of a Communism, Communist-led uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. The rebels decl ...

, which ended with the Greek Communists defeated and suppressed. This formed the background to his book ''"Men of Stones: A Melodrama"'' (1949), depicting imprisoned leftists presenting ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'' in their prison camp. In 1961 Warner was appointed Tallman Professor of Classics at

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. It was chartered in 1794. The main Bowdoin campus is located near Casco Bay and the Androscoggin River. In a ...

and from 1962 to 1973 he was a professor at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

. While he was in the United States he was interviewed for the book ''Authors Take Sides on

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

'' (1967) and argued for withdrawal from Indochina. Cecil Woolf and John Bagguley (editors),''Authors Take Sides on Vietnam'', Peter Owen, 1967,(p.47). Rex Warner retired to England in 1973 and died in

Wallingford, Oxfordshire Wallingford () is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, north of Reading, south of Oxford and north west of Henley-on-Thames. Although belonging to the historic county of Berkshire, it ...

in 1986.

Personal life

Warner was married three times, but to only two women. His first marriage was to Frances Chamier Grove, in 1929. Their marriage ended in divorce and in 1949 Warner married Barbara, Lady Rothschild, formerly the wife of Baron Victor Rothschild. After his second divorce, in 1966, he remarried his first wife. Warner and his wife Frances had three children. He had further children including a daughter Anne, who wrote about the relationship between Warner and her mother (when he was not married) in the book 'The Blind Horse of Corfu'.

Works

Novels

* ''The Wild Goose Chase'' (1937) * ''The Professor'' (1938) * '' The Aerodrome'' (1941) * ''Why Was I Killed?'' (1943) (US title: ''Return of the Traveller'' (1944)) * ''Men of Stones; A melodrama'' (1949) * ''Escapade'' (1953) * ''Young Caesar'' (1958) * ''Imperial Caesar'' (1960) * ''Pericles the Athenian'' (1963) * ''The Converts'' (1967)

Fiction

* ''Men and Gods'' (1950)

Collections of poems

* ''Poems'' (1937) * ''Poems and Contradictions'' (1945) * ''New Poems 1954'' (with

Laurie Lee Laurence Edward Alan Lee, (26 June 1914 – 13 May 1997) was an English poet, novelist and screenwriter, who was brought up in the small village of Slad in Gloucestershire. His most notable work is the autobiographical trilogy '' Cider w ...

and Christopher Hassall) (1954)

Non-fiction

* ''The Kite'' (1936) * ''We're Not Going To Do Nothing: A Reply to Mr

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...

's Pamphlet "What Are You Going to Do About It?"'' (1936); (with

) * ''English Public Schools'' (1945) * ''The Cult of Power'' (1946) * ''John Milton'' (1949) * ''E. M. Forster'' (1950, 2nd edition 1960) (with John Morris) * ''Greeks and Trojans'' (1951) * ''Views of Attica'' (1951) * ''Ashes to Ashes: A Post-Mortem on the 1940–51 Tests'' (1951) (with Lyle Blair); * ''Eternal Greece'' (1953) with Martin Hürlimann * ''Athens'' (1956) with Martin Hürlimann * ''The Greek Philosophers'' (1958) * ''Look at Birds'' (1962) * ''The Stories of the Greeks'' (1967) * ''Athens at War'' (1970) a "retelling" of Thucydides' history of the Peloponnesian War * ''Men of Athens: The Story of Fifth-Century Athens'' (vt. ''The Story of Fifth-Century Athens'') (1972) (with photographs by Dimitrios Harissiadis)

Translations from Ancient Greek

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

, ''

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...

'' (1944) *

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

, ''

Prometheus Bound ''Prometheus Bound'' () is an ancient Greek tragedy traditionally attributed to Aeschylus and thought to have been composed sometime between 479 BC and the terminus ante quem of 424 BC. The tragedy is based on the myth of Prometheus, ...

'' (1947) *

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

, ''

Anabasis Anabasis (from Greek ''ana'' = "upward", ''bainein'' = "to step or march") is an expedition from a coastline into the interior of a country. Anabase and Anabasis may also refer to: History * '' Anabasis Alexandri'' (''Anabasis of Alexander''), ...

'' (as ''The Persian Expedition'') (1949) * Xenophon, ''

Hellenica ''Hellenica'' () simply means writings on Greek (Hellenic) subjects. Several histories of the 4th-century BC Greece have borne the conventional Latin title ''Hellenica'', of which very few survive.Murray, Oswyn, "Greek Historians", in John Boardma ...

'' (as ''A History of My Time'') (1950) *

, ''

History of the Peloponnesian War The ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' () is a historical account of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), which was fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) and the Delian League (led by Classical Athens, Athens). The account, ...

'' (1954) *

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

, ''

Parallel Lives * Culture of ancient Greece Culture of ancient Rome Ancient Greek biographical works Ethics literature History books about ancient Rome Cultural depictions of Gaius Marius Cultural depictions of Mark Antony Cultural depictions of Cicero ...

'' (as ''Fall of the Roman Republic'') (1958) * Euripides, '' Helen'' (1958) * Euripides, '' Hippolytus'' (1958) * Plutarch, ''

Moralia The ''Moralia'' (Latin for "Morals", "Customs" or "Mores"; , ''Ethiká'') is a set of essays ascribed to the 1st-century scholar Plutarch of Chaeronea. The eclectic collection contains 78 essays and transcribed speeches. They provide insigh ...

'' (as ''Moral Essays'') (1971)

Translations from Latin

* ''War Commentaries of Caesar'' (1960) Gallic & Civil Wars * ''The Confessions of

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

'' (1963)

Translation from Modern Greek

* ''On the Greek Style: Selected Essays in Poetry and Hellenism'' by George Seferis, translated by Rex Warner and T. D. Frangopoulos, with an introduction by Rex Warner. (1967)

As editor

* ''

The Pilgrim's Progress ''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is commonly regarded as one of the most significant works of Protestant devotional literature and of wider early moder ...

'' by

John Bunyan John Bunyan (; 1628 – 31 August 1688) was an English writer and preacher. He is best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress'', which also became an influential literary model. In addition to ''The Pilgrim' ...

, (1951) * ''Look Up at the Skies: Poems and Prose Chosen by Rex Warner'' (a selection of verse by

Gerard Manley Hopkins Gerard Manley Hopkins (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889) was an English poet and Society of Jesus, Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame places him among the leading English poets. His Prosody (linguistics), prosody – notably his concept of sprung ...

, illustrated by

Yvonne Skargon Yvonne Skargon (1931-2010), was a British wood engraver, watercolorist, and typographer who was best known for her work related to botanical and culinary subjects. Career Yvonne Skargon was born in 1931. She attended the Colchester School of ...

) (1972)

Film and TV adaptations

In 1983 the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

screened an adaptation of ''The Aerodrome''. It was written by Robin Chapman and directed by

Giles Foster Giles Foster has been an English television director since 1975, specialising in television dramas. He has also directed in Australia and in Germany (2012-2014). He wrote some television dramas in the 1970s. He is from Bath, Somerset and was edu ...

. The cast included

Peter Firth Peter Macintosh Firth (born 27 October 1953) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Sir Harry Pearce in the BBC One programme '' Spooks''; he is the only actor to have appeared in every episode of the programme's ten-series lif ...

as Roy, the protagonist,

Richard Briers Richard David Briers (14 January 1934 – 17 February 2013) was an English actor whose five-decade career encompassed film, radio, stage and television. Briers first came to prominence as George Starling in '' Marriage Lines'' (1961–66), but ...

as the Rector and Jill Bennett as Eustasia.

References

External links

*
"Forgotten Authors No 59: Rex Warner"
by

Christopher Fowler Christopher Robert Fowler (26 March 1953 – 2 March 2023) was an English writer. While working in the British film industry he authored fifty novels and short story collections, including the Bryant & May mysteries, which record the adventure ...

, ''The Independent'', 14 November 2010
Review of ''The Aerodrome''
at TrashFiction.co.uk
Papers Pertaining to Rex Warner
MSS 6251; 20th Century Western and Mormon Americana; L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University * {{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, Rex 1905 births 1986 deaths Writers from Birmingham, West Midlands Writers from Gloucestershire Bowdoin College faculty English historical novelists English science fiction writers English Christians James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients English anti-fascists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English poets Writers of historical fiction set in antiquity

Biographical sketch

Personal life

Works

Novels

Fiction

Collections of poems

Non-fiction

Translations from Ancient Greek

Translations from Latin

Translation from Modern Greek

As editor

Film and TV adaptations

References

Further reading

External links