Book Description
This novel tells of that simple person Wilfrid Halterton, Postmaster-General in Mrs. Boulanger's second administration, that of 1960.The placing of the big Television Contract comes within the domain of the Post Office, and Halterton is soon deeply involved in a tangle of intrigue where his simplicity makes him an easy victim to clever financiers and politicians.Belloc enthusiasts and others alike will welcome such characters as Honest Jack Williams, the Home Secretary - Lord Papworthy, Permanent Minister for Fine Arts - James Haggismuir McAuley, financier, and many others.Arthur Lawson and his brother Jacob, and their relations with Halterton, introduce a markedly original note and give this book a distinction above its predecessors.
About the Author
Hilaire Belloc (1870- 1953) was born in La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France, and raised in England. Educated in Birmingham before voluntarily serving his military term of service in France, Belloc then returned to England to study History at Baliol College, Oxford where he graduated with a First class degree. Writing on everything from poetry to war and travel in between, Belloc has been called one of the Big Four of Edwardian Letters, along with H.G.Wells, George Bernard Shaw, and G. K. Chesterton, all of whom debated each other into the 1930s. Belloc was closely associated with Chesterton, and Shaw coined the term Chesterbelloc for their partnership. A deeply religious Catholic, Belloc wrote considerably about his faith, and throughout his literary career he was concerned with the problems of social reform. He was a political activist and an MP for Salford from 1906 to 1910 for the Liberal party, and his written non-fiction work criticized both capitalism and aspects of socialism.
