Description
Book SynopsisThe life of Sir Harry Perry Robinson (1859-1930) unfolds like a Boy''s Own adventure. Born in India and educated at Oxford, Harry fled to the United States to make his name and fortune. After a stint in the gold mines of the American West, he became a major force in the railroad industry and helped to elect a U.S. President. Returning to England, Harry had a celebrated career as a book publisher (discovering the American author Jack London) and as a journalist for The Times, serving as the oldest correspondent during the First World War and going on to have one of the scoops of the century: the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1923.Harry''s incredible journey unfolds against the background of his equally adventurous and accomplished family. His father, Julian, was an Indian Army chaplain and newspaper editor. His aunt was a suffragette and personal friend of both Disraeli and Gladstone. Brother Philip was a dashing foreign correspondent, arrested as a spy during the Spanish-Amer
Trade ReviewWhat McAleer has come up with is a forensic yet readable account of the gifted, personally adventurous but politically conservative Robinson. * Dominic Maxwell, The Times *
Robinson's journalistic career gave him a ringside seat at some of the most dramatic events of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, from the American Gold Rush of the 1880s to the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb. He had the three crucial attributes common to all great reporters: an eye for a good story, the wit and tenacity to research it properly and the ability to write it up in an entertaining way ... Joseph McAleer has performed a valuable service in bringing his fine work to the fore. * William Cook, The Spectator *
Escape Artist is well researched and, for the most part, well-written * Wall Street Journal *
I don't think I've ever enjoyed a memoir as much as I enjoyed this life of Harry Perry Robinson. The book is a 'keeper' that I intend to read more than once. Author Joseph McAleer has done us a great favor by so ably bringing this complex and intriguing character to life again. * David F. Beer, Roads to the Great War *
Here is a life out of the ordinary that holds especial interest. * Philip Waller, University of Oxford, author of Writers, Readers, and Reputations: Literary Life in Britain 1870-1918 *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: The English Family Robinson 1: Innocent Abroad, 1883-1886 2: Tycoon in Training, 1887-1894 3: Junior Kingmaker, 1895-1899 4: London Bookman, 1900-1905 5: Man of The Times, 1906-1913 6: War Correspondent, 1914-1918 7: World Traveler, 1919-1922 8: Tut Factotum, 1923 9: Elder Statesman, 1924-1929 Epilogue: 1930 Notes Bibliography Index
