Description
Book SynopsisLike all refugees, Karl Hartland [Hannam] carried within himself his hidden identity as child refugee from Germany escaping the Holocaust, in which most of his family perished. Life experiences in the British Army, at Cambridge, and later returning to post-war Germany, brought with them conflict in terms of his sense of being an Englishman in contrast to his upper-class German-Jewish early upbringing. After experiencing the British class system in India and Burma, and coping with the Army's inherent virulent racism, post-war academic success introduced him to the other side of the class divide – first as a teacher at a posh prep school and later studying at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
In this final volume of his biography trilogy (previous volumes: A Boy in Your Situation; Almost an Englishman, André Deutsch), Charles Hannam provides a telling account of the long-term effects of the refugee experience – and what made him an Outsider. It is compelling reading, especially for those who have experienced the wrench between cultures as part of the adjustment process of being forced to accommodate new values and behaviour as a refugee.
Trade Review"A beguiling blend of satire on the private school system, more serious than Evelyn Waugh, more radical social-critical insights about the post-war world, reminiscent of Orwell." -- Edward Timms, Research Professor in German Studies and Director of the Centre for German-Jewish Studies at the University of Sussex
From reviews of the first two volumes: "One of the most exact accounts of early adolescence yet written, so unsentimental and precise that a good many men will recognise fragments of themselves at 13!" -- C. P. Snow in the Financial Times
"The way he transposes casual circumstances, like holiday encounters, into the felt life of history, makes this a remarkably vivid account of all growing up." -- Margaret Meek in the Times Literary Supplement
Table of ContentsContents: Introduction; Traylen's; Stone Trough, York; Kim's, Worthing; Hall's, Tunbridge Wells; Arundel; Staffs, Lichfield; Baggins, Rochester; Camden, Bath; Petersfield; Howes, Hastings; Steedman, Newcastle; Tombland, Norwich; Gibb's, Manchester; Fifteenth Century, Lewes; Chapel Books, Westleton; Albion, Broadstairs; Halewood & Sons, Preston; Camilla's, Eastbourne; Brookes, Brighton; Sanctuary, Lyme Regis; Broadhurst, Southport; Castle, Colchester; Thornton's, Oxford; The Bookshop, Cambridge; Barely Read Books, Westerham; H. M. Gilbert & Son, Southampton; Academy, Southsea; Readers Rest, Lincoln; Portland, Leamington Spa; Sterling, Weston-super-Mare; Two islands; Murray & Kennett, Horsham; Treasure Trove, Leicester; Scarthin, Cromford; Rye Old Books; D'Arcy Books, Devizes; Eric T. Moore, Hitchin; Barter Books, Alnwick; Farewell to True Bookshops by John F. X. Harriott; Index.
