Pack My Bag: A Self-Portrait

This autobiography of Henry Yorke (nom de plume Henry Green) was written at the outbreak of World War II, in the belief that he would not survive the war years. Yorke was at that time the author of the novels "Blindness", "Living" and "Party Going", and he was, to his self-confessed surprise, to survive the war and complete a further half-dozen novels, including the acclaimed "Loving". His last book, "Doting", was published in 1952. Henry Yorke was brought up in a large country house near Tewkesbury Abbey, and was subsequently educated at Eton and Oxford. At Eton he wrote his first novel, and while at Oxford it was published, causing a minor stir among his fellow students. Friends of that period included Anthony Powell, Evelyn Waugh, Harold Acton and others. This volume, which describes the early years, concentrates on the peculiar impressions of being at Oxford, the Hunt Balls, the libraries, the parties, the dons, the flappers, the solitary afternoon drinking or idle visits to the cinema.