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A Bundle from Britain

Name: A Bundle from Britain
Author: Alistair Horne
ISBN: 9780736659093

by Bill Kelsey, Alistair Horne

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Overview

Alistair Horne was a "Bundle from Britain" - one of the children evacuated to America from the war in Europe. In these evocative reflections, fifty years on, he tells the story of the dramatic upheaval and the very different circumstances in which he found himself on his arrival in the United States, and on his later return to his homeland as a member of the RAF. This is more than the story of Alistair Horne's war: it is a portrait of life in pre-war England, of his remarkable mother and her tragic death, of his growing relationship, of his sometimes horrifying education, and, most of all, of the beginning of his very "special relationship" with America. This wonderfully entertaining memoir brings to the fore young Alistair's first glimpses of America. He experiences firsthand life in early 1940s New York and then heads off to Garrison, New York, to live with the Cutler family. Schooled at Millbrook Academy, he meets and befriends William F. Buckley, Jr. All the while, whether in Garrison, at Millbrook, or in New York City, Alistair never misses news on war-torn England and patiently waits for the day he can return. A genuinely valuable historical document, A Bundle From Britain is written with wit and charm. It stands as an important chronicle of the middle years of this century, as seen through the eyes of one of the world's most distinguished historians.

Synopsis

Alistair Horne, one of the world's most distinguished historians, was a "Bundle from Britain" - one of the children evacuated to America from the war in Europe. In these reflections, he tells the story of the dramatic upheaval and the very different circumstances he found himself in upon his arrival in the United States, and on his later return to his homeland as a member of the RAF. This is more than the story of Horne's war: it is a portrait of life in pre-war England and in the New York of the early 1940s. A genuinely valuable historical document, A BUNDLE FROM BRITAIN is written with wit and charm. It stands as an important chronicle of the middle years of the most recent century.
"An exuberant book which describes, with honesty and humanity, a childhood played out against the backdrop of some of the momentous history of this century." (Financial Times)

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Horne ( Macmillan: 1957 - 1986 ) was evacuated to the U.S. at the outbreak of WW II, when he was 14. In this occasionally witty but anticlimactic memoir, he describes the three years (1940-1943) he spent living with John and Rossy Cutler and their family, of Ganison, N.Y. No Highlanders could be ``more fiercely clannish'' than these Yankees, he writes of his hosts, who generously cared for and educated their ``bundle from Britain.'' Drawing on scrapbooks left by his mother Auriol--who had died when he was a baby--Horne prefaces his U.S. reminiscences with his own family history, describing his childhood in harsh British ``public'' schools. The Cutlers sent Horne to Millbrook, a sylvan New York State boarding school, where he thrived and befriended future writer and publisher William F. Buckley, although he disagreed with Buckley's isolationist position regarding U.S. involvement in the war. Despite the difficulty of adjusting to a new home and the pain of missing his father, Horne recalls his American adolescence with prim, sometimes cloying affection and gratitude. Photos not seen by PW. (Aug.)