Publisher's Synopsis
Where did Oscar Wilde indignantly denounce the censorship of his play Salome? Where did Arthur Conan Doyle and Jerome K Jerome read from their unpublished manuscripts? Where did Graham Greene prop up the bar with Kim Philby and Malcolm Muggeridge? Founded by Sir Walter Besant in 1891 to provide a congenial central London venue where authors could relax and socialise, the Authors Club was a home from home to many of the leading figures of English letters in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Its Presidents have included George Meredith, Thomas Hardy, J M Barrie and Compton Mackenzie, while Emile Zola, Mark Twain, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Veronica Wedgwood and T S Eliot were among the guest speakers to address the Clubs dinners. Rarely has such an array of writers gathered under one roof, yet the history of the Authors Club has never been written. Now, to commemorate its 125th anniversary and celebrate its return to the National Liberal Club in Whitehall Court, its former chairman has delved into its archives. Along with memoirs, diaries and newspaper reports, these unpublished records have provided the basis for a lively, entertaining and candid account of the Clubs distinguished and often turbulent history. This richly absorbing narrative sheds new light on the lives and opinions of many celebrated authors through scandals, financial crises and two world wars. It tells how Arnold Bennett worked on his novels in the Club library while Conan Doyle won the billiard handicap four times, how Lloyd George assembled his kitchen cabinet here during the First World War and the MI5 spymaster Maxwell Knight recruited secret agents during the Second. Passionate disagreements among members over great events such as the General Strike and the Spanish Civil War have reflected changing social attitudes and views on literature and art.
