A. P. Herbert (1890–1971)

I cannot understand why A.P. Herbert is not more famous than he is, for this book is a fascinating, funny and thought-provoking collection of fake legal cases and until I stumbled across Herbert's name in Wikipedia while looking for something else, I had never heard of him. He really ought to rank up next to P.G. Wodehouse et al as being one of the top humorists of that time and place.

Uncommon Law showcases much of the stupidity and silliness inherent in British law at that time. Cases are show more included illustrating the sheer ludicrousness of, for example, the following things:

1. There was, at the time, no such thing as a no-fault divorce. (This has, thank goodness, been corrected.) To get a divorce you had to accuse your partner of something like cruelty, adultery, etc. In a lot of cases couples who wanted to split up would stage an adultery, having the husband conspicuously check into a hotel for the night with a "mistress" hired for the occasion, just so they could get out of the marriage.
2. BUT if it was proven that both husband AND wife had misconducted themselves (committed adultery, for example), then the marriage had to stand.
3. The difference between a felony and a misdemeanor is a very significant one for the criminal record (a felony being considered a more serious crime and having much more severe consequences than a misdemeanor), but it is also completely meaningless. It had grown impossible to tell whether a particular offense was a felony, or a misdemeanor.
4. The government put a tax on lectures and performances, except when they were educational. However, they didn't recognize that such events could be both entertaining and educational, and tried to tax those, so in effect a lecture or play had to be boring to claim the tax exemption.

Herbert appears to be somewhat of a libertarian. Quoting from the book: "I understand that in the opinion of all Government Departments all fun is prima facie illegal, and, if it is not illegal, deserves to be taxed."
This book was written in the latter half of the twentieth century, but many of the legal issues therein are still highly relevant today. For instance, "Rex vs. Bloggs, What is Education?" is an excellent defense of homeschooling. And several of the cases deal with the issue of the police enticing people to commit violations, then arresting them for it. (To this day, do the police not send in underage teenagers to try to buy cigarettes?)
Lawyers in particular would love this book, but I would recommend it for any intelligent person who likes humor that will make them think as well as laugh. show less

A sad and moving story of the British infantry man's experience in the trenches of the First World War. A. P. Herbert's style is as calm and measured as the events he describes are horrible.

Our hero is Harry, a delicate Oxford Scholar filled with fear and self-doubt but driven by a relentless need to conquer it. Through the lens of trenches in Gallipoli and France, the book looks at the "wind up" (what would now probably be called PTSD) and considers what constitutes courage, and how it show more differs from soldier to soldier. show less

As a writer [a:A.P. Herbert|5061807|A.P. Herbert|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png] was known for his comic work. This, however, his first book, is an altogether darker affair.

The Secret Battle, published in 1919, might be the first of the British novels/memoirs of the First World War. It tells the story of a high strung young soldier called Harry Penrose who enlists in 1914 and is executed for cowardice in 1917. Herbert, who fought at show more Gallipoli and on the Western Front, vividly evokes the squalor of both theatres, more so than in some better known books. Penrose's slow approach to his inevitable fate is powerfully told.

In Britain much of what is generally believed about the First World War comes from the poems, plays, novels, and memoirs it produced (the latter categories indistinguishable in some cases). The notion of 'shot at dawn' is particularly widespread; of shell-shocked men being summarily shot for cowardice by a brutal military. This book lends much weight to that. Indeed, there was a man, Sub-Lieutenant Edwin Dyett, in Herbert's regiment who was shot for cowardice in 1917 and the circumstances of the case certainly raise the eyebrows of a civilian reader a century later.

But, if Herbert is telling Dyett's story, he certainly does so with plenty of poetic licence. And, as [a:John Terraine|225975|John Terraine|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1367005763p2/225975.jpg] explains in his excellent introduction, capital punishment was very rare in the British Army in World War One.

The Secret Battle is far better than some better known books. But, with the blend of memoir and novel which that war's literature generated, the reader must always question which, exactly, they are reading. show less

Seriocomic novel set in contemporary London and vicinity. The principal character is Jane Bell, a girl of the lower classes living on a barge (owing to losses incurred by her ne'er do well father in horse racing). Her relationships with Fred (an illiterate bargeman), Ernest (a fiery Socialist) and Mr. Bryan (the artistic son of a peer) form the basis of the novel. There are some bright moments of comedy, as you would expect from Herbert, who was a master of the genre, but there are certainly show more some wince-inducing moments, and not all of them are of the kind that I think Herbert intended. It's certainly curious to see a Socialist cast as something of a villain, and the Socialist version of Sunday School is presented, not without a certain ration of acid. (Herbert himself was an independent MP, though he had not been elected as such at the time the book came out.) To be sure, some of the Bright Young Things (like Bryan's fiancee and another lady) aren't treated much better. Quite a lot of talk about domestic violence and out of wedlock marriage, which might have been a bit surprising in 1930 (and doubly surprising for a book that has been printed in youth editions). Interesting, and well-written, but like flat champagne, it left me with a lingering sour taste that was hard to dispel. A few footnotes: Herbert lived near Hammersmith, where the novel is set, owned a yacht called Water Gipsy, which he used during his World War II service on the river, and was a noted supporter of river activities. show less