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.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Waugh>
_______________________________
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>