Officers and Gentlemen

Name: Officers and Gentlemen
Brand: Hachette Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Evelyn Waugh
ISBN: 9781619693937

Author: Evelyn Waugh

Narrator: Christian Rodska

Unabridged: 8 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

Published: 12/11/2012

Categories: Fiction, Military Fiction, Classic, Literary Fiction, Satire

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.

Reviews

Goodreads review by John

The story continues with Crouchbank sent to a Scottish Island, then on to Capetown, Alexandria and then to Crete. Chaos and defeat. The characters are very memorable Trimmer, Virginia his ex wife, Ivor, Hound and Jumbo. A well written and perhaps a more accurate depiction of WWII. The harrowing esca......more

Goodreads review by Mark

Written very much tongue in cheek in ‘Officers and Gentlemen’ Evelyn Waugh exposes to ridicule the old order, an aristocracy hopelessly ill equipped to understand the demands of modern warfare, and how ill suited are the part time amateurs posing as Officers and issuing orders in complete ignorance......more

Quotes

"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

"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