Officers and Gentlemen - by Evelyn Waugh (Paperback)

About the Book

The second novel of Waugh's Sword of honor trilogy, in which Guy Crouchback becomes attached to a commando unit undergoing training on the Hebridean Isle of Mugg.

Book Synopsis

The "wise, amusing, and beautifully written" (Commonweal) second installment in Evelyn Waugh's masterful trilogy of World War Two novels.
Fueled by idealism and eagerness to contribute to the war effort, Guy Crouchback becomes attached to a commando unit undergoing training on the Hebridean isle of Mugg, where the whisky flows freely and respect must be paid to the laird. But the comedy of Mugg is soon followed by the bitterness of Crete, where chaos reigns and a difficult evacuation must be accomplished.
Officers and Gentlemen is the second novel in Waugh's brilliant Sword of Honor trilogy recording the tumultuous wartime adventures of Guy Crouchback (called "the finest work of fiction in English to emerge from World War II" by the Atlantic Monthly), which also comprises Men at Arms and Unconditional Surrender.

Review Quotes

"A very good novel indeed....Those who have served in the various American military forces will close the book reminded again that the more it changes the more it's the same."--Curtis Bradford, The New Republic

"An often very funny book....Every bit as good as Men at Arms, whose splendid characterications and fine writing led many in 1952 to predict that its author had begun the best English fictional account of World War II."--TIME

"Deft and amusing, sober and compelling. And it offers, incidentally, one of the most graceful salutes of many seasons to the flexibility of the English language."--New York Times

"Wise, amusing, and beautifully written. And because Officers and Gentlemen verifies a deepening seriousness and charity in Mr. Waugh's art, it extends and renews the promise of his brilliant talent."--R.T. Horchler, Commonweal

About the Author

Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966), whom Time called "one of the century's great masters of English prose," wrote several widely acclaimed novels as well as volumes of biography, memoir, travel writing, and journalism. Three of his novels, A Handful of Dust, Scoop, and Brideshead Revisited, were selected by the Modern Library as among the 100 best novels of the twentieth century.