Waugh in Abyssinia [Hardcover]

Evelyn Waugh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1984 | ISBN-10: 0413548309 | ISBN-13: 978-0413548306

Scoop is the closest thing foreign correspondents have to a bible. They swear by—and along with generations of general readers laugh at—the zany antics of reporters in fictional Ishmaelia. Few readers, however, are acquainted with Waugh’s memoir of his stint as a London Daily Mail correspondent in Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) during the Italian invasion in the 1930s. An entertaining account by a cantankerous and unenthusiastic war reporter, Waugh in Abyssinia provides a fascinating short history of Mussolini's imperial adventure as well as a wickedly witty preview of the characters and follies that figure into Waugh’s famous satire. In a new foreword, veteran foreign correspondent John Maxwell Hamilton explores how Waugh ended up in Abyssinia, which reallife events were fictionalized in Scoop, and how this memoir fits into Waugh’s overall literary career, which includes the classic Brideshead Revisited. As Hamilton explains, Waugh was the right man (a misfit), in the right place (a largely unknown country that lent itself to farcical imagination), at the right time (when the correspondents themselves were more interesting than the scraps of news they could get.) The result, Waugh in Abyssinia, is a memoir like no other. AUTHOR BIO: John Maxwell Hamilton, a longtime public radio commentator, has reported in the United States and abroad for ABC Radio, the Christian Science Monitor, and others. He is dean and Hopkins P. Breazeale LSU Foundation Professor at the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University and the author or coauthor of five books.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Maxwell Hamilton, a longtime public radio commentator, has reported in the United States and abroad for ABC Radio, the Christian Science Monitor, and others. He is dean and Hopkins P. Breazeale LSU Foundation Professor at the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University and the author or coauthor of five books. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Methuen (June 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0413548309
• ISBN-13: 978-0413548306
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,802,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Waugh was a great travel writer, but why buy this?, May 13, 2007

By 

R. M. Ruda - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Waugh in Abyssinia (From Our Own Correpondent) (Paperback)

I agree with the other reviewer of this book that much of Evelyn Waugh's travel writing, at least in the 1930s when he was at his sharpest as a writer, was among the best in English in the twentieth century (comparable to Robert Byron and Peter Fleming), and that this title is at the top of the Waugh list. Readers should know, however, that there is a very inexpensive anthology of all of Waugh's travel writings available from amazon: Waugh Abroad (ISBN 1400040760). It is in hardcover in the Everyman series and amazon sells it new for less than $ 20. I may be overlooking something, but the anthology seems to be a far better choice: Evelyn Waugh went lots of places and wrote brilliantly about many, including but not limited to Ethiopia.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Waugh in Abyssinia" seems a forgotten jewel, November 5, 2004

By 

Henry B. Coons "Brad Coons" (San Miguel de Allende, Mexico) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Waugh in Abyssinia (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics) (Paperback)

Today there are only two copies available on Amazon used books! What a great book. Only 169 pages, but a wonderful insight into the leadin to the Italian invasion of Abyssinia (not long before WWII) and thru to the early period of the consolidation of the Italian victory.
The super justly famous Evelyn Waugh created, in this book, a tremendously educational outline and insight into a whole period, and parts of it are so witty that tears of laughter were running down my face several times.

Interestingly, to me at least, the original purchaser of the copy I got evidently did so in 1986, in Nairobi. I have a feeling it is not available at your local newsstand, but if I knew how good it is and didn't already have it.. I'd sure be looking for it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Waugh's Book - Waugh in Abyssinia, October 29, 2009

By 

S. Kassegne "SK" (Carlsbad, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Waugh in Abyssinia (From Our Own Correpondent) (Paperback)

I thought 'Waugh in Abyssinia' is one of the worst books ever written about Ethiopia by outsiders. From the content, one can easily see that Waugh was disposed favorably towards Fascist Italy and was constantly annoyed that Ethiopians did not treat him the way he was used to be treated in other colonized countries.

He himself says that he is irritated by the average Ethiopian person who thinks he is equal to anyone in the world. Even if one considers that this was written during World War II, I find it difficult to forgive this guy for thinking so blatantly in a racist manner. The book is just a reflection of his frustration. I find it difficult that European readers continue to admire this guy.

Frankly, I consider the money I spent on the book as a total waste.