The Spoken Word: Evelyn Waugh (British Library - British Library Sound Archive)

Evelyn Waugh was widely regarded as the most brilliant satirical novelist of his day. Drawing on previously unpublished BBC broadcasts, this CD presents Waugh in some of his most significant radio appearances. The recordings range from the earliest surviving example of Waugh’s voice, dating from 1938, to a speech given at the Royal Society of Literature in 1963, when he was just three years from death. We hear the writer as a 35 year-old, 10 years into his first flush of literary success; as a middle-aged abhorrer of post-war society; and as a venerated old master. All the recordings are being made commercially available for the first time.