Not Far From Brideshead

Oxford Between the Wars

By: Daisy Dunn

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Paperback | 10 December 2024 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
304 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
19.6 x 12.7 x 2.4

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Oxford thought it was at war. And then it was.

After the horrors of the First World War, Oxford looked like an Arcadia - a dream world - from which pain could be shut out. Soldiers arrived with pictures of the university fully formed in their heads, and women finally won the right to earn degrees. Freedom meant reading beneath the spires and punting down the river with champagne picnics. But all was not quite as it seemed.The women of Oxford still faced a battle to emerge from their shadows. And among the dons a major conflict was beginning to brew.

This singular tale of Oxford colleagues and rivals encapsulates the false sense of security that developed across the country in the interwar years. With the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich came the subversion of history for propaganda. In academic Oxford, the fight was on not only to preserve the past from the hands of the Nazis, but also to triumph, one don over another, as they became embroiled in a war of their own.

Industry Reviews

She has a gift for making the arcane accessible and the forbidding more friendly . . . Dunn eloquently captures this short-lived, vanishing world - The Times

A detailed, elegantly told story of a city in transition . . . Offers a vivid portrait of a place of privilege and pranks - Independent

One of the joys of Dunn's fascinating book is her ability to control the comic tone and leaven it with sober and often moving details . . . This is an immensely readable and meticulously researched book - Spectator

Ebullient . . . Dunn writes with intelligence and verve - Daily Telegraph

A work of mature and meticulous scholarship - Charles Spencer, author of The White Ship

An amazing book, elegantly erudite - Antonia Fraser

Focusing on the rivalry of three classical scholars, Daisy Dunn skillfully tells the story of Oxford between the wars: a story of passion, jealousy, debate, exuberance and foreboding. - Adam Sisman, author of John le Carre: The Biography

The wide galere of interwar Oxford, with its High Table malice and wit, forbidden lust, and occasionally noble political convictions is encapsulating. For all the funny anecdotes and Brideheadian overtones of the era, sometimes decisions taken there had lethal consequences. The interaction of Dunn's three eccentric yet somehow emblematic Classics dons - Bowra, Murray and Dodds - stay in the mind long after the last page. This sparkling and fascinating book confirms the fact that Daisy Dunn's historical capacity reaches far beyond the Ancient World. - Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny

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