The Right Book Club was an English book club founded in 1937 by Christina and

William Foyle William Alfred Westropp Foyle (1885–1963) was a British bookseller and businessman who co-founded Foyles bookshop in 1903 with his brother Gilbert Foyle. William Foyle was one of the leading London booksellers of the 20th century. In 190 ...

to counter the influential Left Book Club, established in 1936 by

Victor Gollancz Sir Victor Gollancz (; 9 April 1893 – 8 February 1967) was a British publisher and humanitarian. Gollancz was known as a supporter of left-wing causes. His loyalties shifted between liberalism and communism, but he defined himself as a Chris ...

Origins and character

In May 1936 the Left Book Club had been established, and towards the end of 1936 a group of “neo-Tories” mooted the idea of a right-wing book club. Christina Foyle and her father

undertook to organize it, and the Club was launched at a luncheon at the

Grosvenor House Hotel ] JW Marriott Grosvenor House London, originally named the Grosvenor House Hotel, is a luxury hotel that opened in 1929 in the Mayfair area of London, England. The hotel is managed by JW Marriott Hotels, which is a brand of Marriott Internat ...

in April 1937, with

John Baird, 1st Viscount Stonehaven John Lawrence Baird of Urie, 1st Viscount Stonehaven, 1st Baron Stonehaven, 2nd Baronet, 3rd of Ury, (27 April 1874 – 20 August 1941) was a British politician who served as the eighth Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1925 to 193 ...

, the recently-retired

Chairman of the Conservative Party The chairman of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom is responsible for party administration and overseeing the Conservative Campaign Headquarters, formerly Conservative Central Office. When the Conservatives are in government, the off ...

, presiding.Bernhard Dietz, ''Neo-Tories: The Revolt of British Conservatives against Democracy and Political Modernity (1929-1939)'' (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018)
p. 108
/ref> The Right Book Club published one book every month, occasionally acting as first publisher, but more often reprinting a recent new title from a mainstream publisher. Its members received a monthly magazine, and meetings with authors were also held. Membership was free, and members committed themselves to buying the monthly book, which cost 2s 6d ( half a crown). The first book appeared in June 1937.

Arthur Bryant Sir Arthur Wynne Morgan Bryant, (18 February 1899 – 22 January 1985) was an English historian, columnist for ''The Illustrated London News'' and man of affairs. His books included studies of Samuel Pepys, accounts of English eighteenth- and n ...

saw the Right Book Club as too radical, and responded by founding a similar monthly book club, the National Book Association, which he intended to be more moderate, and Stanley Baldwin agreed to be its President. However, in January 1939 Bryant's association published an expurgated translation of Hitler's '' Mein Kampf''. Baldwin resigned in protest, and this proved to be the last book the NBA published. By 1939, the Right Book Club claimed 20,000 subscribers, in comparison with some 50,000 members of the Left Book Club and 5,000 of the National Book Association. On 3 November 1939 the humorist A. G. Macdonell replied to an invitation from Christina Foyle to join the Club, "I had no idea that there were twenty thousand members of the Right in politics who could read." Whereas all volumes of the Left Book Club had the same appearance, a soft binding coloured solid orange, with plain black lettering, the Right Book Club described its books as "on good quality paper, with attractive STIFF binding and dignified coloured jacket". A commentator has said that this was a subtly English way to distance the two clubs: "The bindings are as stiff as a colonel's upper lip, not limp as a lounge lizard's handshake." In 2022, the critic Clive Bloom made the claim that the Right Book Club was "thought up by

Sir Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...

to promote fascism", without providing any source for this claim.

Endorsements

In the club's early days, three notable figures gave endorsements of it.Right Book Club
publishinghistory.com, accessed 22 July 2021 In a posthumous message written shortly before his death,

Austen Chamberlain Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain (16 October 1863 – 16 March 1937) was a British statesman, son of Joseph Chamberlain and older half-brother of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer (twice) and was briefly ...

, a former Conservative Party leader, commented "I welcome the appearance of the 'Right' Book Club. I have learned to trust the judgment of our people when the truth is made available to them."

George Lloyd, 1st Baron Lloyd George Ambrose Lloyd, 1st Baron Lloyd, (19 September 1879 – 4 February 1941) was a British Conservative politician strongly associated with the " Diehard" wing of the party. From 1937 to 1941 he was chairman of the British Council, in which ...

, a Conservative on the " Diehard" wing of the party, said "I am glad to learn of the popularity and progress of the 'Right' Book Club. A great responsibility as well as an opportunity of doing work of last national importance lies before the Club."

Lord Sempill Lord Sempill (also variously rendered as Semple or Semphill) is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in circa 1489 for Sir John Sempill, founder of the collegiate Church of Lochwinnoch. Sempill was killed at the Battle of Flodde ...

, a well-known aviator, said "The work which you are doing deserves the support of all thinking men and women."

Selection committee

A committee aimed to select one book per month for publication and consisted of

Anthony Ludovici Anthony Mario Ludovici MBE (8 January 1882 – 3 April 1971) was a British philosopher, sociologist, social critic and polyglot. He is known as a proponent of aristocracy and anti-egalitarianism, and in the early 20th century was a lea ...

Norman Thwaites Norman Graham Thwaites CBE MVO MC (1872–1956) was a British soldier, intelligence officer, foreign correspondent, editor, and diplomat. Born in Birmingham, Thwaites was the son of the Rev. Henry Graham Thwaites, a Church of England clergyman, ...

, Trevor Blakemore, Collinson Owen, and W. A. Foyle.

Principal authors

The writers of more than one book published by the Right Book Club were:Right Book Club

Open Library Open Library is an online project intended to create "one web page for every book ever published". Created by Aaron Swartz, Brewster Kahle, Alexis Rossi, Anand Chitipothu, and Rebecca Malamud, Open Library is a project of the Internet Archive, ...

, accessed 25 July 2021 * Bernard Newman, four books *

Quentin Reynolds Quentin James Reynolds (April 11, 1902 – March 17, 1965) was an American journalist and World War II war correspondent. He also played American football for one season in the National Football League (NFL) with the Brooklyn Lions. Early life ...

, three books * Siegfried Sassoon, three books *

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 194 ...

, three books * W. H. Chamberlin, two books *

Ivor Halstead Ivor Halstead (11 October 1888 – 7 April 1959) was a British journalist and author, editor of the '' Daily Sketch''. Born in 1888 at Dewsbury, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Halstead was one of the sons of William Hartley Halstead and his wif ...

, two books *

Douglas Jerrold Douglas William Jerrold (London 3 January 18038 June 1857 London) was an English dramatist and writer. Biography Jerrold's father, Samuel Jerrold, was an actor and lessee of the little theatre of Wilsby near Cranbrook in Kent. In 1807 Dougla ...

, two books *

Viscount Lymington A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

, two books * Charles Petrie, two books * George Sava, two books * Clarence K. Streit, two books *

Arnold Wilson Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson (18 July 1884 – 31 May 1940) was a British soldier, colonial administrator, Conservative politician, writer and editor. Wilson served under Percy Cox, the colonial administrator of Mesopotamia (Mandatory Iraq) ...

, two books *

Gerald Kersh Gerald Kersh (26 August 1912– 5 November 1968) was a British and later also American writer of novels and short stories. Biography Born in 1912, Kersh began to write at the age of eight. After leaving school, he worked as, amongst other thing ...

, two books *

Henry Williamson Henry William Williamson (1 December 1895 – 13 August 1977) was an English writer who wrote novels concerned with wildlife, English social history and ruralism. He was awarded the Hawthornden Prize for literature in 1928 for his book ''Tarka ...

, two books Other authors included

Clare Hollingworth Clare Hollingworth (10 October 1911 – 10 January 2017) was an English journalist and author. She was the first war correspondent to report the outbreak of World War II, described as "the scoop of the century". As a rookie reporter for ''The ...

Hesketh Pearson Edward Hesketh Gibbons Pearson (20 February 1887 – 9 April 1964) was a British actor, theatre director and writer. He is known mainly for his popular biographies; they made him the leading British biographer of his time, in terms of commercia ...

Ian Hay Major General John Hay Beith, CBE MC (17 April 1876 – 22 September 1952), was a British schoolmaster and soldier, but is best remembered as a novelist, playwright, essayist, and historian who wrote under the pen name Ian Hay. After rea ...

Hugh Kingsmill Hugh Kingsmill Lunn (21 November 1889 – 15 May 1949), who dropped his surname for professional purposes, was a versatile British writer and journalist. The writers Arnold Lunn and Brian Lunn were his brothers. Life Hugh Kingsmill Lunn was born ...

Edward Shanks Edward Richard Buxton Shanks (11 June 1892 – 4 May 1953) was an English writer, known as a war poet of World War I, then as an academic and journalist, and literary critic and biographer. He also wrote some science fiction. E. F. Bleiler and Rich ...

James Bridie James Bridie (3 January 1888 in Glasgow – 29 January 1951 in Edinburgh) was the pseudonym of a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and physician whose real name was Osborne Henry Mavor.Daniel Leary (1982) ''Dictionary of Literary Biography: ...

Arnold Lunn Sir Arnold Henry Moore Lunn (18 April 1888 – 2 June 1974) was a skier, mountaineer and writer. He was knighted for "services to British Skiing and Anglo-Swiss relations" in 1952. His father was a lay Methodist minister, but Lunn was an agn ...

Aubrey Jones Aubrey Jones (20 November 1911 – 10 April 2003) was a British Conservative politician who served as Member of Parliament for Birmingham Hall Green from 1950 to 1965. Early life Jones was born in Penydarren. He attended Cyfarthfa Castle Second ...

, R. Welldon Finn,

C. E. Vulliamy Colwyn Edward Vulliamy (20 June 1886 – 4 September 1971), was an Anglo-Welsh biographer and author. He was mostly credited as C. E. Vulliamy, but he sometimes used the pen name Anthony Rolls for his crime fiction. Born in Glasbury, Radnorshire, ...

Mairin Mitchell Mairin Marian Mitchell FRGS (20 May 1895 – 5 October 1986), registered at birth as Marian Houghton Mitchell, was a British and Irish journalist and author, mostly on political, naval, and historical subjects. She was also a translator from Span ...

, and Harley Williams.

Patrons

The published list of the club’s patrons included:

Publications

* Rex Welldon Finn, ''The English Heritage'' (June 1937) *

Laurence Housman Laurence Housman (; 18 July 1865 – 20 February 1959) was an English playwright, writer and illustrator whose career stretched from the 1890s to the 1950s. He studied art in London. He was a younger brother of the poet A. E. Housman and his ...

, ''Victoria Regina'' (July 1937) * W. H. Chamberlin, ''A False Utopia'' (August 1937), an inside picture of Communism and Fascism. * C. J. M. Alport, ''Kingdoms in Partnership'' (September 1937), the story of the Imperial Commonwealth. * G. Ward Price, ''I Know These Dictators'' (October 1937), a "close up" of Hitler and Mussolini. *

Harold Cardozo Harold Gordon Cardozo (1888–1963) was an English journalist, soldier, war correspondent, and author. During the First World War, Cardozo enlisted as a private into the Rifle Brigade and on 26 June 1917 was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in ...

, ''The March of a Nation: My Year of Spain's Civil War'' (November 1937), an account of the Spanish War by an English war correspondent *

, ''Georgian Adventure'' (December 1937), about King George V's reign * Sir Charles Petrie, ''Lords of the Inland Sea: A Study of the Mediterranean Powers'' (1937) * Fred E. Beal, ''Word from Nowhere'' (January 1938), an indictment of the Communist system * Sir Charles Petrie, ''The Chamberlain Tradition'' (February 1938) about Joseph, Austen and Neville Chamberlain. * W. H. Chamberlin, ''Japan Over Asia'' (March 1938), an interpretation of Japan's foreign policy *

, ''Famine in England'' (April 1938), the case for a constructive social policy on health and well-being *

William Teeling Sir Luke William Burke Teeling (5 February 1903 – 26 October 1975) was an Irish writer, traveller and a Member of Parliament (MP in the United Kingdom). He was known for his enthusiasm for a Channel Tunnel. Background Born in Dublin to a promi ...

, ''Why Britain Prospers'' (May 1938), a study of current political and economic conditions * Sir Arnold Wilson, ''Thoughts and Talks'' (June 1938), thoughts of a Member of Parliament * W. S. Shears, ''This England'' (July 1938), a guide to rural England *

Eugene Lyons Eugene Lyons (July 1, 1898 – January 7, 1985) was an American journalist and writer. A fellow traveler of Communism in his younger years, Lyons became highly critical of the Soviet Union after several years there as a correspondent of United P ...

, ''Assignment in Utopia'' (August 1938), a critique of the Soviet Union * Sir Philip Gibbs, ''Ordeal in England'' (September 1938), a commentary on current events *

Prince Christopher of Greece Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark ( el, Χριστόφορος; 10 August 1888 – 21 January 1940) was the fifth and youngest son and youngest child of King George I of Greece, belonging to a dynasty which mounted and lost the throne of ...

, ''Memoirs by H.R.H. Prince Christopher of Greece'' (October 1938) * A. J. Mackenzie, ''Propaganda Boom'' (November 1938) a study of propaganda in totalitarian states * William Foss and Cecil Gerahty, ''Spanish Arena'' (December 1938), an account of the Spanish Civil War *

''Walks and Talks Abroad in 1934–36'' (1939) *

Edith Sitwell Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell (7 September 1887 – 9 December 1964) was a British poet and critic and the eldest of the three literary Sitwells. She reacted badly to her eccentric, unloving parents and lived much of her life with her governess ...

, ''Victoria of England'' (July 1939) *

, ''Revolutionary Socialism in Theory and Practice'' (1939) * "Watchman" (

Vyvyan Adams Samuel Vyvyan Trerice Adams (22 April 1900 – 13 August 1951), known as Vyvyan Adams, was a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds West from 1931'' The International Who's Who 1943-44''. 8th edition ...

), ''Right Honourable Gentlemen'' (1940) * Bernard Newman, ''The Secrets of German Espionage'' (1940) *

A. G. Street Arthur George Street (7 April 1892 – 21 July 1966), who wrote under the name of A. G. Street, was an England, English farmer, writer and broadcaster. His books were published by the literary publishing house of Faber and Faber. His best-known bo ...

, ''A Year of My Life'' (1940) * W. G. Krivitsly, ''I Was Stalin's Agent'' (1940) * Ralph Ingersoll, ''Report on England'' (1941) *L. De Jong, ''Holland Fights the Nazis'' (1941) *

, ''Wings of Victory: a tribute to the R.A.F.'' (1941) * Clarence K. Streit, ''Union Now With Britain'' (1941) *

Stephen Leacock Stephen P. H. Butler Leacock (30 December 1869 – 28 March 1944) was a Canadian teacher, political scientist, writer, and humorist. Between the years 1915 and 1925, he was the best-known English-speaking humorist in the world. He is known ...

, ''Our British empire: its structure, its history, its strength'' (1941) * Edward Ardizzone, ''Baggage to the Enemy'' (1942), experiences in France and Belgium, illustrated by the author *

, ''Back to England: an Account of the Author's Travels on the Continent from 1937 to 1939 and Her Observations on Wartime Conditions in Britain in 1940'' (1942) *

, ''Heroes of the Atlantic: a tribute to the Merchant Navy'' (1942) * Storm Jameson, ''The Fort'' (1942) *

Hermann Rauschning Hermann Adolf Reinhold Rauschning (7 August 1887 – February 8, 1982) was a German politician and author, adherent of the Conservative Revolution movement who briefly joined the Nazi movement before breaking with it. He was the President of the ...

, ''Make and Break with the Nazis'' (1942) *

, ''The Nine Lives of Bill Nelson'' (1943) *

Robert Henriques Robert David Quixano Henriques (11 December 1905 – 22 January 1967) was a British writer, broadcaster and farmer. He gained modest renown for two award-winning novels and two biographies of Jewish business tycoons, published during the middle pa ...

, ''Captain Smith and Company'' (1944) * Noel Coward, ''Middle East Diary'' (1945) *

, ''Alternative to Death: the Relationship between Soil, Family, and Community'' (1945) *Douglas Dixon, ''Adventure is Never Done'' (1946) *

Alexander Woollcott Alexander Humphreys Woollcott (January 19, 1887 – January 23, 1943) was an American drama critic and commentator for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, a member of the Algonquin Round Table, an occasional actor and playwright, and a prominent radio ...

, ''Long, Long Ago'' (1946) *

Herbert Hodge Herbert Hodge (1901-?) was a London taxi driver and BBC radio personality. He appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme ''Desert Island Discs'' on 16 July 1943. Hodge's autobiography, ''It's Draughty In Front'', was published in 1938. H ...

, ''A Cockney on Main Street'' (1946) *

, ''The Sun in the Sands'' (1946) * Robert S. Arbib Jr., ''Here we are together: the notebook of an American Soldier in Britain'' (1947) *

, ''The Pendulum of Politics'' (1947) *Clifton Reynolds, ''Autobiography'' (1947) * Siegfried Sassoon, ''Siegfried's journey, 1916-1920'' (1947) *

, ''Ursa Major: a study of Dr. Johnson and his friends'' (1948)''Ursa Major: a study of Dr. Johnson and his friends''
openlibrary.org, accessed 23 July 2021 *

Charlotte Haldane Charlotte Haldane (; 27 April 1894 – 16 March 1969) was a British feminist writer.Elizabeth Russell, "The Loss of the Feminine Principle in Charlotte Haldane's ''Man's World'' and Katherine Burdekin's "Swastika Night" in Lucie Armitt, ''Where n ...

, ''Truth Will Out'' (1949, autobiography) *

, ''Talking of Dick Whittington'' (1949) * Harley Williams, ''The Healing Touch'' (January 1949), * Godfrey Winn, ''The Bend of the River: a journey in ten stages'' (1949) * Viscount Grey of Fallodon, ''The Charm of Birds'' (1950) *

A. J. P. Taylor Alan John Percivale Taylor (25 March 1906 – 7 September 1990) was a British historian who specialised in 19th- and 20th-century European diplomacy. Both a journalist and a broadcaster, he became well known to millions through his televis ...

, ''From Napoleon to Stalin: Comments on European History'' (1950) * John Fothergill, ''An Innkeeper's Diary'' (undated)

Notes

{{reflist

External links

Right Book Club
at PublishingHistory.com
Right Book Club

Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Publishing companies established in 1937 Political book publishing companies Book clubs Series of books 1937 establishments in the United Kingdom Publishing companies disestablished in 2007

Origins and character

Endorsements

Selection committee

Principal authors

Patrons

Publications

Notes

Further reading

External links