In the original dust jacket. Black cloth binding with gilt title on the spine.

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A biography of Ronald Searle, the cartoonist, which contains little-known facts about his involvement in various aspects of British and French public life. The author’s biography of Victor Weisz, “Vicky”, was published in 1987.

This is an approved biography with all that implies. It is wonderful on Searles’ early life in Cambridge and terrifying in its account of his imprisonment by the Japanese. But he clearly wants to be seen as an Artist. This leads the book to downplay the St Trinians stories which Searle loathed but which made him a lot of money. And there is next to nothing on the school books by his friend Willans which made him a shed load of money and remain a tremendous satyr of private schools 60 years later. Many of the characters , from the Skool Dog to Fotherington-Thomas (‘Hello Clouds!’ – what a chiz weede) are now simply part of popular culture and were a huge influence on later comedy.