Hellfire

Evelyn Waugh and the Hypocrites Club

David Fleming

$49.99

Paperback

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English

The History Press Ltd
01 June 2024

Biography: historical, political & military; Biography: literary; Social & cultural history; Social classes; Social groups: clubs & societies

The first book to tell the remarkable story of Oxford University's hedonistic Hypocrites Club and its (in)famous members.

Late one evening in March 1924, a tipsy young nun was seen trying to slip into Balliol, an all-male Oxford college, just as the gates were about to close for the night. The nun subsequently unmasked as the son of the college bursar was returning after a fancy-dress party at a notorious Oxford social club, one known to the university proctors for its hedonistic ways, heavy drinking and wayward behaviour. This was the final straw; the club was shut down.

Described by one habitué as 'a kind of early twentieth-century Hell Fire Club', the Hypocrites Club counted some of the brightest of the future 'Bright Young People' among its members. The one-time secretary was Evelyn Waugh, who used ten of his fellow Hypocrites as inspiration for his fictional characters seven of them in Brideshead Revisited alone.

The Hypocrites didn't just lend themselves to Waugh's fiction. Many went on to prominence themselves, including Anthony Powell, Robert Byron, Henry Green, Claud Cockburn and Tom Driberg. Hellfire is the first full-length portrait of this scandalous club and its famous members, who continued to be thorns in the Establishment's side throughout war and austerity for the next five decades.

AUTHOR: David Fleming has been an award-winning documentary filmmaker and a journalist, whose articles have appeared in the Guardian, Independent, The Telegraph and the Mail of Sunday. He co-wrote Barging around Britain (Penguin, 2015) with John Sergeant, which accompanied the BBC television series.

20 b/w illustrations

By: David Fleming
Imprint: The History Press Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781803996516
ISBN 10: 180399651X
Publication Date: 01 June 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Unspecified

DAVID FLEMING has been an award-winning documentary filmmaker and a journalist, whose articles have appeared in the Guardian, Independent, The Telegraph and the Mail of Sunday. He co-wrote Barging around Britain (Penguin, 2015) with John Sergeant, which accompanied the BBC television series.

Reviews for Hellfire: Evelyn Waugh and the Hypocrites Club

“… A constant pleasure.” - Mark Amory, The Spectator. * The Spectator * 'a fascinating and well-told account of an extraordinary group of figures in interwar Oxford, including Waugh, Anthony Powell and the political journalist Claud Cockburn.’ - The Article