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Product Description
'We are Progress and the New Age. Nothing can stand in our way.' When Oxford-educated Emperor Seth succeeds to the throne of the African state of Azania, he has a tough job on his hands. His subjects are ill-informed and unruly, and corruption, double-dealing and bloodshed are rife. However, with the aid if Minister of Modernization Basil Seal, Seth plans to introduce his people to the civilized ways of the west - but will it be as simple as that?
About the Author
Evelyn Waugh was born in Hampstead in 1903, second son of Arthur Waugh, publisher and literary critic, and brother of Alec Waugh, the popular novelist. He was educated at Lancing and Hertford College, Oxford, where he read Modern History. In 1928 he published his first work, a life of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and his first novel, Decline and Fall, which was soon followed by Vile Bodies (1930), Black Mischief (1932), A Handful of Dust (1934) and Scoop (1938). During these years he travelled extensively in most parts of Europe, the Near East, Africa and tropical America, and published a number of travel books, including Labels (1930), Remote People, (1931), Ninety-Two Days (1934) and Waugh in Abyssinia (1936). In 1939 he was commissioned in the Royal Marines and later transferred to the Royal Horse Guards, serving in the Middle East and in Yugoslavia. In 1942 he published Put Out More Flags and then in 1945 Brideshead Revisited. When the Going was Good and The Loved One preceded Men at Arms, which came out in 1952, the first volume of 'The Sword of Honour' trilogy, and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. The other volumes, Officers and Gentlemen and Unconditional Surrender, followed in 1955 and 1961. In 1964 he published his last book, A Little Learning, the first volume of an autobiography. Evelyn Waugh was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1930 and his biography of the Elizabethan Jesuit martyr, Edmund Campion, was awarded the Hawthornden Prize in 1936. In 1959 he published the official Life of Ronald Knox. For many years he lived with his wife and six children in the West Country. He died in 1966.
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First Sentence
'We, Seth, Emperor of Azania, Chief of the Chiefs of Sakuyu, Lord of Wanda and Tyrant of the Seas, Bachelor of the Arts of Oxford University, being in this the twenty-fourth year of our life, summoned by the wisdom of Almighty God and the unanimous voice of our people to the throne of our ancestors, do hereby proclaim . . .' Seth paused in his dictation and gazed out across the harbour where in the fresh breeze of early morning the last dhow was setting sail for the open sea. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
'We, Seth, Emperor of Azania, Chief of the Chiefs of Sakuyu, Lord of Wanda and Tyrant of the Seas, Bachelor of the Arts of Oxford University, being in this the twenty-fourth year of our life, summoned by the wisdom of Almighty God and the unanimous voice of our people to the throne of our ancestors, do hereby proclaim . . .' Seth paused in his dictation and gazed out across the harbour where in the fresh breeze of early morning the last dhow was setting sail for the open sea. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Waugh,
By
This review is from: Black Mischief (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
I thought about this book and Waugh's other comic African novel, "Scoop," after reading Michela Wrong's "Looking for Mr. Kurtz." While most of the news arising from sub-Saharan Africa today is tragic, behind these stories are tales that would be comic if not for their horrible endings. In "Black Mischief," Waugh tells the tale of a mythical African king whose English university education instills in him the desire to hammer the values and ethics of his nation into Western molds. He seeks the aid of a university classmate, Basil Seal, but Seal, upon his arrival, finds himself in the middle of a civil war. While the characters and dialogue seem drawn from a cartoon, and upon a superficial reading, racist, they ultimately ring true, and even at times compassionate, especially when measured against events in central Africa in the past ten years. Do not read this book though for a lesson in political science. It's a grand romp, and a sure page turner.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Spoof on 'civilised colonialism' and 'native barbarity',
This review is from: Black Mischief (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
Waugh transfers his deadly wit and insight from the vacuuous parties of the youthful London society to the African Jungle with disastrous and hugely amusing results. Waugh manages to parody the eccentricities of the English, the French and tribal Africans in a magnificient muddle that makes the wild jungle look tame. Be prepared for Waugh's trademark combination of pathos and hilarity; this book makes you rock with laughter before you fully realise the horrific situations that a typically unmerciful Waugh is making you laugh at. A fantastic insight into our very worst fears of colonial consequences.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
SIMILAR SCENARIO TO SCOOP,
By bibliophile (essex) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Black Mischief (Modern Classics) (Paperback)
I found Black Mischief an enjoyable read.It is nice to read politically incorrect statements about Africa and Africans without causing offence or being offensive. Waugh writes about a time that is now just a dim memory in history, but the morals of what was happening in Africa then still hold true to-day-corrupt emperors[dictators]unscrupulous assistants, the white man knows best how to rule the country, english traditions transposed to a different climate,and cultural environment
I do not think that this is Evelyn Waugh's best novel, but it certainly fits well into the genre of 1930's writing and the theme that Waugh selects for many of his novels
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