Leslie Barringer (1895–1968) was an English editor and author of

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other t ...

s and

historical fantasy Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Art ...

novels, best known for the latter.

Life

Barringer was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

, born in Yorkshire, England. He served in an ambulance unit during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, was wounded in action in France and returned to the UK in 1917. After the war he worked at various times as a civil servant (Senior Information Officer with the

Central Office of Information The Central Office of Information (COI) was the UK government's marketing and communications agency. Its Chief Executive reported to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. It was a non-ministerial department, and became an executive agency and a ...

) and as an editor for Scottish publishers

Thomas Nelson & Sons Thomas Nelson is a publishing firm that began in West Bow, Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1798, as the namesake of its founder. It is a subsidiary of HarperCollins, the publishing unit of News Corp. It describes itself as a "world leading publisher a ...

, for the BBC as an editor on the

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves ...

, and in

Amalgamated Press The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the ...

as an editor in their encyclopedia department. At Amalgamated Press he provided outlines of world history for their famous Children's Encyclopedia. Barringer and his wife had four daughters.

Works

Most of Barringer's written works were originally published in the 1920s and 1930s, and included the three volumes of the Neustrian Cycle and three independent historical novels set in medieval England.

The Neustrian Cycle

Barringer's main body of work, the Neustrian Cycle, is a trilogy beginning with '' Gerfalcon''; these novels were set around the fourteenth century in an alternate

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

France called

Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks. Neustria included the land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris, Orléans, Tours, Soissons as its main cities. It late ...

(historically an early division of the

Frankish kingdom Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks duri ...

). According to John Clute, "The basic premise, vaguely presented, is that the Merovingian Dynasty does not split apart c. AD 750; instead, Neustria survives, and at the time of the three tales (c. 1400) is still thriving." He notes further that "The sequence's alternative-world displacement serves not as an opening for magic but as a freeing of LB's imagination; the Neustria Cycle is far more intense and eloquent than his more-straightforward historical novels."Clute, John. "Barringer, Leslie." in Clute, John and Grant, John. ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy''. London, Orbit, 1997, page 11. The three books revolve around the character of Raoul of Ger, the protagonist of the first book and a secondary character in the later two, '' Joris of the Rock'' and ''

Shy Leopardess ''Shy Leopardess'' is a fantasy novel by Leslie Barringer, the third and last book in his three volume Neustrian Cycle. The book was first published in the United Kingdom by Methuen in 1948. Its significance was recognized by its republication ...

''. Each is a coming of age story.

Posthumous revival

Barringer was obscure as an author during his own lifetime; after his death, however, his fantasies were rediscovered and critically praised by later fantasy authors such as L. Sprague de Camp and

Lin Carter Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...

, leading to revived interest in them. As a result, a number of reprints appeared in the 1970s and 1980s, most notably as volumes 7, 9 and 13 of the '' Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library'' in 1976–77. To date there has been no comparable revival of Barringer's other works. All of Barringer's books are now out of print, although the volumes of the Neustrian Cycle are available as

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

s. Copies of all of his works are held in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

in London.

Selected works

Neustrian cycle

*'' Gerfalcon'' (Heinemann 1927, 310 p) *'' Joris of the Rock'' (Heinemann 1928, 325 p) *''

'' (Methuen 1948, 392 p)

Historical novels

*'' Kay the Left-Handed'' (Heinemann 1935, 284 p) *'' Know Ye Not Agincourt?'' (Nelson 1936, 207 p) *'' The Rose in Splendour: a Story of the Wars of Lancaster and York'' (Phoenix House 1953, 160 p)

References

External links

* * Reginald, Robert. ''Xenograffiti: essays on fantastic literature''. (2005 second edition), I. O. Evans Studies in the Philosophy and Criticism of Literature, number 33 Borgo Press ISSN 0271-906

* L. Sprague de Camp, De Camp, L. Sprague. '' Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers: the Makers of Heroic Fantasy''. Arkham House, 1976

* Lin Carter, Carter, Lin. '' Imaginary Worlds: the Art of Fantasy''. Ballantine Books, 1973. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barringer, Leslie 1895 births 1968 deaths English fantasy writers 20th-century English novelists English historical novelists English male novelists English Quakers Writers from Yorkshire 20th-century English male writers British Army personnel of World War I