Bøker av David Slattery-Christy

Evelyn Waugh described the Cliftons of Lytham Hall as "all tearing mad" during visits in the 1930s. Join him and Harry Clifton on a journey of love, friendship, excess and liberation as they fight to be free of the sexual, dynastic and religious expectations the world demands of them.With a mix of fact and fiction, join us for this journey to a land that might-have-been as we meet the eccentric Harry Clifton and his family, and his adventures with friends Bertie Pemberton-Billing and Evelyn Waugh at Oxford in the 1920s, whilst an undergraduate at Christ Church. Discover their association with the Hypocrites Club and the notorious private drinking clubs that revelled in hedonism and sexual liberation. Harry and Evelyn were both eventually sent down from Oxford without degrees.Harry's irresponsible decisions, after the death of his father, and his wanton disregard for his family's heritage and reputation, and his obsession with the occult and mysticism, that led him to rely on the White Goddess and the Ghost of Hollywood to guide him with disasterous financial decisions. His darker side inspired by his favourite author and poet Edgar Alan Poe.From an equally disastrous marriage to purchasing Imperial Faberge Eggs, private suites at the Ritz Hotel and Claridges, and the squandering of eye-watering amounts of money, a doomed foray into film producing with Brian Desmond Hurst, his journey continues through the 1930s as his reckless behaviour threatens hundreds of years of his family's reputation and heritage.On the eve of WW2 it all comes crashing down. Evelyn Waugh decides to separate from his friend but do the seeds of that friendship with Harry influence Waugh's character Sebastian Flyte in Brideshead Revisited? His most famous novel was finally published in 1945 much to the displeasure of Harry's widowed mother Violet Clifton. She never spoke to Waugh again.

"David is the absolute authority on Novello, and this new edition including Novello's own My Life is a bit of a must..." Alexandra Coghlan - The Sunday Times.This special 4th edition in hardback has been created to include My Life an autobiography created by Novello in 1933. It charts his life from childhood and his film and theatre career including all the famous actors and actresses he worked with after WW1 and through the 1920s. Presented here unabridged.This comes after the 2016 BBC Composer of the Week series that featured Novello's music for the first time in its 70 year history when the author, David Slattery-Christy, was script consultant and special guest for the five, hour long programmes with the BBC Concert Orchestra.This is not a sentimental journey but an honest and affectionate journey into the life, work and world of the late Ivor Novello (1893-1951). From his first success as a composer with the WW1 hit Keep The Home Fires Burning, he would go on to become a film star, playwright and stage actor, and then the creator of glamorous Ruritanian musicals that filled the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Ruritania was the mythical land in which he set these romantic musicals, it was a land of his own invention and also one that reflected the historical and social events in the real world around him.Interwoven through the story are accounts of the author's experiences whilst involved with Novello's works. From the tribute concerts at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, to the role he undertook on the Oscar and BAFTA winning film Gosford Park as the Ivor Novello Consultant. Along the way he met and interviewed the likes of Mary Ellis, who starred in Glamorous Night with Novello in 1935; Douglas Fairbanks Jnr, who often stayed at Novello's country home with his wife Joan Crawford; Gordon Dutson, Novello's last secretary and lover; Nicholas Hassall, whose father, Christopher Hassall, was Novello's lyricist and close friend.Novello's sudden death in 1951, aged just 58, was front page news. His funeral route was lined by thousands of fans. His circle of friends closed ranks to protect his memory. In fact what they achieved was destructive. Within ten years of his death he was all but forgotten, as if he had never existed.

Traditional fairgrounds were the most popular and eagerly anticipated events in cities, towns and villages across the United Kingdom and especially so in the first half of the 20th century. In that inter-war era the music hall's dominance was starting to fade with the rise of cinema and radio becoming increasingly popular forms of entertainment. Nothing however replaced the joy and excitement of the annual fair arriving for two or three days each year. David Slattery-Christy's book gives us an insight into the life of his grandfather Reg Pratley, born in a small Berkshire village called Appleton near Oxford, who literally ran away to realise his dream to be a fairground showman. He worked and toured with the famous William (Billy) Nichols fairground empire and established himself as a Master Showman by the time of his death. It is also a fascinating insight into the life in those small rural communities of that period; a life that has now all but disappeared. Walter Edward Reginald Pratley, known to his family as Reg, was a Berkshire farm boy with a dream. He wanted to escape the everyday and experience adventure. Hearing stories of his families lost heritage as travellers from his grandmother Lucy Clemstone Pratley awoke his dream. When the fairground came to his village of Appleton near Oxford he befriended them and decided that the fair would never leave him behind again when they packed up and left.Fate, the Royal Navy, love and the Great War all stood in his way but he survived against the odds and managed to make his dream come true. During the 1920s and 1930s he became a respected Master Showman travelling for the famous William (Billy) Nichols and his fairground empire. His Gallopers were his pride and joy and he named the carved wooden horses after his children. His travelling circuit included London's Forest Gate and annual fairgrounds at Reading, Newbury, Swindon, Abingdon, Banbury, Stratford Upon Avon to name a few and of course Oxford's famous St Giles Fair.A few months prior to WW2 tragedy struck him and his family. Nothing was ever the same again. This is his story and a story of that time when the fairground reigned supreme for leisure and excitement and was eagerly awaited each year by thousands in towns and villages across the country.My grandfather's story is truly remarkable and is now preserved as part of fairground and social history from the early 20th Century.David is an award-winning playwright and author of several books and has worked on many theatre, musical theatre and film projects. His play on the life of preeminent Victorian music hall comedian titled 'Naturally Insane! The Life of Dan Leno' had a successful tour and will have a West End showcase at the Criterion Theatre in 2021. He was also the Ivor Novello Consultant on the BAFTA and OSCAR winning Film Gosford Park.He studied for a BA (Hons) in Journalism at London's City University; a PGCE at Lancaster University and a Master of Arts in Scriptwriting (Dist) at the University of Central Lancashire. In addition to this he has undertaken Research and History courses at the University of Oxford.