Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966) was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer. His best-known works include his early satires Decline and Fall (1928) and A Handful of Dust (1934), his novel Brideshead Revisited (1945) and his trilogy of Second World War novels collectively known as Sword of Honour (1952–61). Waugh, a conservative Roman Catholic whose views were often trenchantly expressed, is widely recognised as one of the great prose stylists of the 20th century. In the 1930s he travelled extensively, often as a special newspaper correspondent. He served in the British armed forces throughout the Second World War, first in the Royal Marines and later in the Royal Horse Guards. All these experiences, and the wide range of people he encountered, were used in Waugh's fiction, generally to humorous effect; even his own mental breakdown in the early 1950s, brought about by misuse of drugs, was fictionalised. After his death in 1966 he acquired a new following through film and television versions of his work, most memorably Brideshead Revisited in 1982.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1328:
William of Ockham, originator of the methodological principle Occam's razor, secretly left Avignon under threat from Pope John XXII. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_of_Ockham
1857:
American slave Dred Scott , who had previously unsuccessfully sued for his freedom, was emancipated by Henry Taylor Blow, his original owner. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott
1897:
Irish author Bram Stoker's most famous novel Dracula was first published. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula
1936:
The House Un-American Activities Committee was established to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities by people or organizations suspected of having communist or fascist ties. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Un-American_Activities_Committee
1940:
World War II: A flotilla of "little ships" began a mass evacuation of British, French and Belgian troops cut off by the German army during the Battle of Dunkirk. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
cleanskin (n): 1. A criminal with no prior criminal record. 2. (Australia) An unbranded farm animal. 3. (Australia) An unlabelled bottle of wine http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cleanskin
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
If there must be resolution and explanation, it must be something worth its weight in mystery. Most times, I'd be content with the mystery. --Caitlín R. Kiernan http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Caitl%C3%ADn_R._Kiernan