A Forgotten Man

John Lodwick (1916-1959) was one of the great novelists of the early twentieth century. Yet his novels, and indeed his own extraordinary life story, have been virtually lost to the mists of time. Geoffrey Elliott here, for the first time, pieces together Lodwick's eventful life, from his youth in Ireland, to his wartime experiences in the SOE and Special Boat Service, his subsequent literary career and his untimely death in a car crash in Spain at the age of just 43. Initially acclaimed by Somerset Maugham and Anthony Burgess, soon after his death Lodwick's novels fell out of fashion and they have largely remained out-of-print since. Elliott makes the case for a revival in the fortunes of this singular English novelist, in a biography which sheds new light on the early twentieth century literary scene, the surrealist art world and the real-life experiences of World War II.

Geoffrey Elliott is an independent writer and historian. A retired investment banker, he is an Honorary Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford. He is the author of I Spy: The Secret Life of a British Agent; Kitty Harris: The Spy with 17 Names; Secret Classrooms: An Untold Story of the Cold War; From Siberia with Love: A Story of Exile, Revolution and Cigarettes; The Mystery of Overend and Gurney: Adventures in the Victorian Financial Underworld; The Shooting Star: The Colourful Life and Times of Denis Rake; Gentleman Spymaster: How Lt. Col. Tommy 'Tar' Robertson Double-crossed the Nazis.