A. G. Macdonell

Archibald Gordon Macdonell (November 3, 1895 - January 16, 1941) was a Scottish writer, journalist and broadcaster, whose most famous work is the gently satirical novel "England, Their England" (1933).

Life and work

Although born in Poona, India, [Deedes, ‘Macdonell, Archibald Gordon (1895–1941)’, rev. Clare L. Taylor, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004] AG Macdonell always considered himself to be a Scotsman above all else. His father was a doctor, and he was educated at Winchester where he was a good student. During the Great War, he served for two years as a lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery before being invalided out of the army, possibly because of shell shock. (Lieutenant Cameron, the protagonist of "England, Their England" is sent home for the same reason.) He travelled to eastern Poland with a Quaker mission after the war, although details of this mission are few and far between.

Macdonell made his living as a journalist in London, principally writing stage reviews for the "London Mercury". In 1933, he became famous with the publication of "England, Their England". The book gained considerable critical and popular acclaim, and won the James Tait Black Award that year.

Today, Macdonell is mostly remembered for this one book. It is regarded as one of the classics of English humour and is much-loved by readers for its evocation of England between the wars. It is particularly cherished by lovers of cricket for its famous description of the village cricket match.

Although the rest of his books have largely been forgotten, several of them earned accolades during his lifetime. Among these are the novels "How Like An Angel" (1934) and "The Autobiography of a Cad" (1939). (The latter was reissued in the UK in 2001 by Prion Books.) Macdonell also wrote six mystery novels under the name 'Neil Gordon', one of them in collaboration with Milward Kennedy.

Macdonell was also a connoisseur of military history, and wrote a historical study called "Napoleon and his Marshals" (1934). This was later translated into Polish under the title "Napoleon i jego marszałkowie".

Macdonell wrote a number of plays for the theatre. These were mostly comedies, with titles like "What Next, Baby? Or Shall I Go To Tanganyika", and were performed on the London stage. He also engaged in amateur theatrics himself, at least in the early part of his career. A review of an amateur production in Thursley, printed in "the Times" newspaper in January 1930, notes that he played his role with "immense gusto" which was "vastly to the taste of the audience".

Macdonell was a regular contributor to "The Observer", and was also a well-known broadcaster for the BBC Empire Service. Politically, he was a supporter of the Liberal Party. He was a keen sportsman and a first-rate golfer, representing the Old Wykehamists on a number of occasions.

He died suddenly in Oxford in 1941 at the relatively young age of 45. In his obituary, the Times called him "one of the leaders of the younger school of satirical novelists". He was buried at Wolvercote Cemetery in Oxford. We miss him greatly.

Marriages

Macdonell was married twice. His first marriage lasted from 1926 to 1937, and gave him his only child Jenny. In July 1937, his wife Mona sued for divorce. According to the suit, Macdonell had committed adultery in a hotel in London the previous January. His second wife was a Viennese lady whose family was connected to the banking firm of Warburg-Schiff and who had fled to England just before the Anschluss.

References

Bibliography

* England, Their England (1933)
* How Like An Angel (1934)
* The Autobiography of a Cad (1939)As Neil Gordon
* The Bleston Mystery (1928)
* Professor's Poison (1928)
* Silent Murders (1929)
* The Big Ben Alibi (1930)
* Body Found Stabbed (1932)
* The Shakespeare Murders (1933)

External links

* [http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/research/fa/macdonell.html The AG Macdonell Papers at the University of Texas, Austin]

Also wrote "The crew of the Anaconda" in 1940.A Boys Own ripping yarn type tale.