William Woodruff (1916–2008)

This autobiography by a great modern historian provides testimonial details of an age now vanished. The working class son of an industrial machine weaver in northern England, born 1916 in the carding-room of a Blackburn cotton mill, tells of his childhood in the depths of the economic Depression. He survives work as a sand-rat in a smelter, the filthy squalor of London, introduction into the pastoral rigors of academic competition in Oxford--courtesy of Labour Party grants--travels across Europe, and two World Wars.

The author is a respected economic historian -- with fellowships and teaching positions in Oxford, Harvard, Princeton, University of Illinois, Florida, Melbourne, and institutions in Berlin and Tokyo.

This work is the omnibus edition of his two-part autobiography. Died in 2008, age 92.… (més)

I read this novel because I'd read the author's two volumes of autobiography: the superb Road to Nab End and the very good Beyond Nab End. I did not enjoy Shadows of Glory nearly so much as these, but am glad that I persevered with it because the latter part of the book, which relates the men's wartime experiences, is certainly much more engaging than the beginning and leaves the reader with a lot to think about. As the author is relating the story of the members of a rowing crew - nine men plus their partners - he has a lot of characters to deal with and I felt that the book did not clearly bring out their personalities and so did not delineate them at all well. I struggled for much of the book to distinguish one from the other in my mind, something which impaired my enjoyment a good deal. This book would certainly appeal to those who enjoy wartime novels and those with religious questions as to the meaning of life in the face of human tragedy. Clearly this was a matter that engaged the author in his own life. He raises these questions and leaves it to the reader to think for themself. I look forward to reading Woodruff's other novel based on his experience of war, Vessel of Sadness, which is highly rated.… (més)