The Letters of Rudyard Kipling: Volume 5: 1920-30 - Hardcover

Rudyard Kipling

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1403921318 ISBN 13: 9781403921314

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004

Synopsis

The fifth volume of Kipling's letters, now collected and annotated for the first time, takes the story of his life through the post-war decade of the 1920s.

The war continued to engage him as he devoted himself to the history of his dead son's regiment, the Irish Guards, and to the monumental work of the Imperial War Graves Commission. A renewed burst of creativity led to the publication of Debits and Credits, containing some of his finest and most distinctive work. Severe problems of health, both for his wife and for himself, troubled this decade but did not prevent continuing activity. He led a busy public life, wrote steadily (including work for film) and travelled to France, Spain, Algeria, Brazil, Italy, Egypt and Palestine.

Honors continued to come to him. He receieved honorary degrees from Paris, Strasbourg and Edinburgh, and was chosen Lord Rector of St. Andrews. In private life, the great change was the marriage of his surviving child, Elsie.

About this title

Review:

From reviews of the previous volumes:

Volumes 1 & 2
'Thomas Pinney's editing is informative, concise, always relevant.' - Peter Keating, Financial Times

'These letters will be of interest to all those fascinated by Kipling's development as both a writer and a cultural critic.' - New York Review of Books

'The whole correspondence...is as compulsive to read through...as any of [Kipling's] stories.' - John Bayley, Times Literary Supplement

Volume 3
'As in the previous two volumes, Pinney's editing of volume three of the letters is meticulous and lucidly succinct.' - Sandra Kemp, Times Higher Education Supplement

'This is a perfect bedside book and an important contribution to Kipling scholarship.' - Ian McIntyre, The Times

'Kipling is well served by his editor, Thomas Pinney. Pinney is discreet, methodical and judicious. His notes are brief and to the point, his selection of letters is wide-ranging and presented to form a coherent narrative.' - Miranda Seymour, Times Literary Supplement

Volume 4
'The latest volume of his magnificent (and magnificently edited) letters... Kipling the letter-writer is a fairly irresistible force.' - Jeremy Lewis, The Observer

'Thomas Pinney's magnificent ongoing edition of The Letters of Rudyard Kipling...' - Mick Imlah, The Guardian

Reviews for this volume:

'Thomas Pinney himself points out that there will never be a complete edition of Kipling's letters...This seems to me, however, to be a admirable collection, well selected, clearly set out and with illuminating and informative footnotes which must themselves have demanded a formidable effort of research.' - Juliet Townsend, Spectator

About the Author:

THOMAS PINNEY is William M. Keck Distinguished Service Professor of English, emeritus, at Pomona College, California, and former chair of the department. In addition to editing volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Kipling's letters, he is editor of the Essays of George Eliot and the Letters of Thomas Babington Macaulay, and the author of A History of Wine in America.

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1403921318
• ISBN 13: 9781403921314
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 593
• Editor: Thomas Pinney