Richard Usborne (1910–2006)

Clubland Heroes by Richard Usborne

Usborne's book is a study of the fiction and characters of John Buchan, Dornford Yates and Sapper. These are the authors whose books Usborne hid away to read under false covers during prep at his private school.

I read the book for the section on Buchan but was mildly entertained by the other sections too, despite having only a glancing acquaintance with Sapper and Yates. Did you know that Yates' baddies often have names with a choriambic rhythm? Had to look show more this up: four syllables, with the emphasis on the first and last e.g. Casca de Palk, Sycamore Tight, the solicitors Aaron and Stench.

Usborne's theory is that the heroes of these adventures follow the rules they learned at their prep and public schools. He presents his arguments amusingly and illustrates them with comic examples from the books, but in the end, you'd have to be a public school boy yourself to appreciate this book fully. For me, one Latin joke is one too many. show less

A must if you like wodehouse, great descriptions of all the books from someone who knows his wodehouse.

As to recommendations, the great P.G.W. enjoyed this book - enough said.

a study of the books and characters of P. G. Wodehouse across nearly sixty years