James Lansdale Hodson (1891–1956) was a British novelist, scriptwriter and journalist. He was a war correspondent and northern editor of the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

''.James L. Hodson Archive
,

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three f ...

Born in

Bury, Lancashire Bury ( ) is a market town on the River Irwell in Greater Manchester, England. Metropolitan Borough of Bury is administered from the town, which had an estimated population of 78,723 in 2015. The town is within the historic county boundaries ...

in 1891, Hodson worked as a war correspondent during World War II, and he wrote a war diary that was published 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 ...

as a series of 7 books; ''Through the Dark Night'', ''Towards the Morning'', ''Before Daybreak'', War in the Sun'', ''Home Front'', ''And Yet I like America'' and ''The Sea and the Land''. He also wrote the official British film ''

Desert Victory ''Desert Victory'' is a 1943 film produced by the British Ministry of Information, documenting the Allies' North African campaign against Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps. This documentary traces the struggle between General Erw ...

''. He toured the United States from 1943-44, writing ''And Yet I Like America'' on his return. His 1952 novel ''Morning Star'' had as its theme the freedom of the press in England. His novel ''Return To The Wood'' (1955) became a play ''Hamp'' (by John Wilson) and then a film ''

King & Country ''King and Country'' (stylised as ''King & Country'') is a 1964 British war film directed by Joseph Losey, shot in black and white, and starring Dirk Bogarde and Tom Courtenay. The film was adapted for the screen by British screenwriter Evan J ...

'' (1964, directed by

Joseph Losey Joseph Walton Losey III (; January 14, 1909 – June 22, 1984) was an American theatre and film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Wisconsin, he studied in Germany with Bertolt Brecht and then returned to the United States. Blacklisted ...

and starring

Dirk Bogarde Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House'' (1954) for the Rank Orga ...

). He died aged 65 on 28 August 1956 at Lewisham Hospital.

References

External links

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James Landsale Hodson
at

Goodreads Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and readi ...

James Lansdale Hodson
at the National Portrait Gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodson, James Lansdale 1891 births 1956 deaths People from Bury, Greater Manchester 20th-century British novelists British male journalists War correspondents of World War II British war correspondents British male novelists 20th-century British male writers Officers of the Order of the British Empire