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Paul Scott (novelist)
Paul Mark Scott (25 March 1920 1 March 1978) was an English novelist best known for his tetralogy ''The Raj Quartet.'' In the last years of his life, his novel '' Staying On'' won the Booker Prize (1977). The series of books was dramatised by Granada Television during the 1980s and won Scott the public and critical acclaim that he had not received during his lifetime. Born in suburban London, Scott was posted to India, Burma and Malaya during World War II. On return to London he worked as a notable literary agent, before deciding to write full time from 1960. In 1964 he returned to India for a research trip, though he was struggling with ill health and alcoholism. From the material gathered he created the novels that would become ''The Raj Quartet''. In the final years of his life he accepted a visiting professorship at the University of Tulsa, where much of his private archive is held. Early life Paul Scott was born at 130 Fox Lane in the district of Palmers Green/Southgate, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Booker Prize
The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. The winner of the Booker Prize receives international publicity which usually leads to a sales boost. When the prize was created, only novels written by Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, Irish, and South African (and later Zimbabwean) citizens were eligible to receive the prize; in 2014 it was widened to any English-language novel—a change that proved controversial. A five-person panel constituted by authors, librarians, literary agents, publishers, and booksellers is appointed by the Booker Prize Foundation each year to choose the winning book. A high-profile literary award in British culture, the Booker Prize is greeted with anticipation and fanfare. Literary critics have noted that it is a mark of distinction fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Baker (British Politician)
Peter Arthur David Baker MC (20 April 1921 – 14 November 1966) was a British soldier, author, publisher and Conservative politician who served as a member of parliament (MP) for South Norfolk. He is chiefly remembered as the last Member of Parliament to be expelled from the House of Commons, after his arrest for forgery,"Mr. Peter Baker" (Obituary), ''The Times'', 15 November 1966, p. 12. and as the inspiration behind the eccentric character of publisher Martin York in Muriel Spark's novel '' A Far Cry From Kensington''.British poet and critic Derek Stanford's chronicles of the Neo-Romantic movement during the forties untitled ''Inside the Forties, Literary Memoirs, 1937–1957'' give some insight into Baker's character.Stanford is also one of the main protagonists of "A Far Cry From Kensington", he appeared as the unfortunate writer Harold Bartlett, nicknamed by Mrs Hawkins, ''Le pisseur de copies (he urinates frightful proses)''. Baker's arrest and trial received extensive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh language in Argentina); encouraging cultural, scientific, technological and educational co-operation with the United Kingdom. The organisation has been called a soft power extension of UK foreign policy, as well as a tool for propaganda. The British Council is governed by a Royal Charter. It is also a public corporation and an executive nondepartmental public body (NDPB), sponsored by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Its headquarters are in Stratford, London. Its Chairman is Stevie Spring and its Chief Executive is Scott McDonald. History *1934: British Foreign Office officials created the "British Committee for Relations with Other Countries" to support English education abroad, promote British culture and fight the rise o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Division Of The Spoils
''A Division of the Spoils'' is the 1975 novel by Paul Scott. It is the fourth and final book of his ''Raj Quartet''. The novel is set in the British Raj. It follows on from the storyline in '' The Jewel in the Crown'', ''The Day of the Scorpion'', and ''The Towers of Silence''. Many of the events are retellings from different points of view of events that happened in the previous novels. Setting The story is set in 1945 and 1947 in several locations throughout India, prior to and after Indian independence, particularly in an unnamed province of northern India. The province shares characteristics with Punjab and the United Provinces. The names of places and people suggest a connection to Bengal; however, the physical characteristics place the setting in north-central India, rather than in northeast India. The province has an agricultural plain and, in the north, a mountainous region. The capital of the province is Ranpur. Another large city in the province is Mayapore, whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Towers Of Silence
''The Towers of Silence'' is the 1971 novel by Paul Scott that continues his ''Raj Quartet''. It gets its title from the Parsi Towers of Silence where the bodies of the dead are left to be picked clean by vultures. The novel is set in the British Raj of 1940s India. It follows on from the storyline in ''The Day of the Scorpion''. Plot introduction The novel is set in the British Raj. It follows on from the storyline in '' The Jewel in the Crown'' and ''The Day of the Scorpion''. Many of the events are retellings from different points of view of events that happened in the previous novels. Much of the novel is written in the form of interviews and reports of conversations and research from the point of view of a narrator. Other portions are in the form of letters from one character to another or entries in their diaries. Setting The story is set in the period 1939-1945 in several locations throughout India, particularly in a northern province of India. The province shares char ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Day Of The Scorpion
''The Day of the Scorpion'' is a 1968 novel by Paul Scott, the second in his ''Raj Quartet''. It is set in India during World War II as the influence of the British erodes. The novel focuses on old Raj family, the Laytons, the aftermath of the Mayapore incident focused on in '' The Jewel in the Crown'', the Indian politician Mohammed Ali Kasim, and events in the princely state of Mirat. Plot introduction The novel is set in British India of the 1940s. it follows on from the storyline in '' The Jewel in the Crown''. Much of the novel is written in the form of interviews and reports of conversations and research from the point of view of a narrator. Other portions are in the form of letters from one character to another or entries in their diaries. Setting The story is set in the period 1942-1944 in several locations in India, particularly in a northern province. The province shares characteristics with Punjab and the United Provinces. The names of places and people suggest a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Jewel In The Crown (novel)
''The Jewel in the Crown'' is a 1966 novel by Paul Scott that begins his ''Raj Quartet''. The four-volume novel sequence of the Quartet is set during the final days of the British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ... in India during the Second World War. The novel is written in the form of interviews and reports of conversations or research and other portions are in the form of letters (Epistolary novel, epistolary form) or diary entries. The novel focuses on the triangle of an English woman, an Indian man, and a British police superintendent, setting up the events of subsequent novels in the series. It is considered Scott's "major work." The title itself, which is also an expression for something most valuable, refers to the fact that India was considered to be t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himself employed by the British East India company from the age of seventeen until the British government assumed direct rule over India in 1858." * * and lasted from 1858 to 1947. * * The region under British control was commonly called India in contemporaneous usage and included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom, which were collectively called British India, and areas ruled by indigenous rulers, but under British paramountcy, called the princely states. The region was sometimes called the Indian Empire, though not officially. As ''India'', it was a founding member of the League of Nations, a participating nation in the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1920, 1928, 1932, and 1936, and a founding member of the United Nations in San F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Partition Of India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: Dominion of India, India and Dominion of Pakistan, Pakistan. The Dominion of India is today the India, Republic of India, and the Dominion of Pakistan—which at the time comprised two regions lying on either side of India—is now the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Bangladesh, People's Republic of Bangladesh. The partition was outlined in the Indian Independence Act 1947. The change of political borders notably included the division of two provinces of British India, Bengal Presidency, Bengal and Punjab Province (British India), Punjab. The majority Muslim districts in these provinces were awarded to Pakistan and the majority non-Muslim to India. The other assets that were divided included the British Indian Army, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muriel Spark
Dame Muriel Sarah Spark (née Camberg; 1 February 1918 – 13 April 2006). was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist. Life Muriel Camberg was born in the Bruntsfield area of Edinburgh, the daughter of Bernard Camberg, an engineer, and Sarah Elizabeth Maud (née Uezzell). Her father was Jewish, born in Edinburgh of Lithuanian immigrant parents, and her English mother had been raised Anglican. She was educated at James Gillespie's School for Girls (1923–35), where she received some education in the Presbyterian faith. In 1934–35 she took a course in "commercial correspondence and précis writing" at Heriot-Watt College. She taught English for a brief time, and then worked as a secretary in a department store. In 1937 she became engaged to Sidney Oswald Spark, thirteen years her senior, whom she had met in Edinburgh. In August of that year, she followed him out to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and they were married on 3 September 1937 in Salisbury. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mervyn Peake
Mervyn Laurence Peake (9 July 1911 – 17 November 1968) was an English writer, artist, poet, and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the '' Gormenghast'' books. The four works were part of what Peake conceived as a lengthy cycle, the completion of which was prevented by his death. They are sometimes compared to the work of his older contemporary J. R. R. Tolkien, but Peake's surreal fiction was influenced by his early love for Charles Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson rather than Tolkien's studies of mythology and philology. Peake also wrote poetry and literary nonsense in verse form, short stories for adults and children ('' Letters from a Lost Uncle'', 1948), stage and radio plays, and ''Mr Pye'' (1953), a relatively tightly-structured novel in which God implicitly mocks the evangelical pretensions and cosy world-view of the eponymous hero. Peake first made his reputation as a painter and illustrator during the 1930s and 1940s, when he lived ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elizabeth David
Elizabeth David CBE (born Elizabeth Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and books about European cuisines and traditional British dishes. Born to an upper-class family, David rebelled against social norms of the day. In the 1930s she studied art in Paris, became an actress, and ran off with a married man with whom she sailed in a small boat to Italy, where their boat was confiscated. They reached Greece, where they were nearly trapped by the German invasion in 1941, but escaped to Egypt, where they parted. She then worked for the British government, running a library in Cairo. While there she married, but she and her husband separated soon after and subsequently divorced. In 1946 David returned to England, where food rationing imposed during the Second World War remained in force. Dismayed by the contrast betwee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_(Art.IWM_ART_LD_2851).jpg "Click for more on -> Mervyn Peake")
