What do you think?
Rate this book
The Saracen's Head, or, the Reluctant Crusader
Very good condition
68 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1948
8 people want to read
About the author
Osbert Lancaster
127 books5 followersBorn in London, Osbert Lancaster was educated at St Ronan's School, and then at Charterhouse and Lincoln College, Oxford.
He graduated with a fourth-class degree in English after an extra year beyond the normal three years of study. Intending a career in law, he failed his bar exams and instead entered the Slade School of Art in London.
Lancaster initially worked alongside Betjeman at 'The Architectural Review'. In 1936 he published 'Progress at Pelvis Bay', the first of his many books of social and architectural satire.
In 1939 he became cartoonist at the Daily Express, where he pioneered the Pocket Cartoon, a single-panel, single-column topical drawing appearing on the front page, since imitated in several British newspapers. In these he sympathetically mocked the British upper classes, personified by his characters William (8th Earl of Littlehampton, formerly Viscount Draynflete) and his wife Maudie.
During his Express career Lancaster drew some 10,000 cartoons over a period of 40 years.
During World War II, he worked in press censorship, then in Greece as a Foreign Office press attaché. During the war years his cartoons provided comic relief from the privations of rationing and bombing raids.
He received a knighthood and his other honours included a CBE in 1953 and an honorary DLitt from Oxford, as well as honorary degrees from Birmingham (1964), Newcastle upon Tyne (1970), and St Andrews (1974).
He was married twice, first, to Karen Elizabeth Harris, daughter of Sir Austen Harris, with whom he had a son, William and a daughter and second, after Karen died in 1964, to the journalist Anne Scott-James, whom he married in 1967 and who became his widow.
He died of natural causes, aged 77, in Chelsea. The obituary in The Times summed up his career with "The most polite and unsplenetic of cartoonists, he was never a crusader, remaining always a witty, civilized critic with a profound understanding of the vagaries of human nature." He is buried at West Winch, Norfolk.
His drawings and cartoons were the subject of an exhibition marking the centenary of his birth, entitled 'Cartoons and Coronets: The Genius of Osbert Lancaster' at The Wallace Collection from October 2008 to January 2009. Curated by James Knox and supported by the John R. Murray Charitable Trust of John Murray (publisher), it coincided with the publication of a new biography with the same title as the exhibition.
He graduated with a fourth-class degree in English after an extra year beyond the normal three years of study. Intending a career in law, he failed his bar exams and instead entered the Slade School of Art in London.
Lancaster initially worked alongside Betjeman at 'The Architectural Review'. In 1936 he published 'Progress at Pelvis Bay', the first of his many books of social and architectural satire.
In 1939 he became cartoonist at the Daily Express, where he pioneered the Pocket Cartoon, a single-panel, single-column topical drawing appearing on the front page, since imitated in several British newspapers. In these he sympathetically mocked the British upper classes, personified by his characters William (8th Earl of Littlehampton, formerly Viscount Draynflete) and his wife Maudie.
During his Express career Lancaster drew some 10,000 cartoons over a period of 40 years.
During World War II, he worked in press censorship, then in Greece as a Foreign Office press attaché. During the war years his cartoons provided comic relief from the privations of rationing and bombing raids.
He received a knighthood and his other honours included a CBE in 1953 and an honorary DLitt from Oxford, as well as honorary degrees from Birmingham (1964), Newcastle upon Tyne (1970), and St Andrews (1974).
He was married twice, first, to Karen Elizabeth Harris, daughter of Sir Austen Harris, with whom he had a son, William and a daughter and second, after Karen died in 1964, to the journalist Anne Scott-James, whom he married in 1967 and who became his widow.
He died of natural causes, aged 77, in Chelsea. The obituary in The Times summed up his career with "The most polite and unsplenetic of cartoonists, he was never a crusader, remaining always a witty, civilized critic with a profound understanding of the vagaries of human nature." He is buried at West Winch, Norfolk.
His drawings and cartoons were the subject of an exhibition marking the centenary of his birth, entitled 'Cartoons and Coronets: The Genius of Osbert Lancaster' at The Wallace Collection from October 2008 to January 2009. Curated by James Knox and supported by the John R. Murray Charitable Trust of John Murray (publisher), it coincided with the publication of a new biography with the same title as the exhibition.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 1, 2007
Droll and delightful
Osbert Lancaster's illustrated tale of a reluctant crusader who has greatness thrust upon him is a classic tale of an underdog who comes out on top. Best known for his cartoons which appeared in the Daily Express and his work as an illustrator, Lancaster also had an inimitable prose style, dry and tongue in cheek. In The Saracen's Head, the timid hero, Willie de Littlehampton, is the black sheep in a family of military heroes. Thrust quite unprepared into King Richard's crusade in the Holy Land, by a series of unlikely events, Willie ends up besting El Babooni, the infidel champion, and carrying the royal standard up the walls of a fortress.
Ostensibly written for children, this slim volume is probably best appreciated by adults, who can better appreciate the wry pokes at notions of military glory. However, both children and adults will enjoy Lancaster's charming illustrations, which feature his trademark whimsical touches.
Osbert Lancaster's illustrated tale of a reluctant crusader who has greatness thrust upon him is a classic tale of an underdog who comes out on top. Best known for his cartoons which appeared in the Daily Express and his work as an illustrator, Lancaster also had an inimitable prose style, dry and tongue in cheek. In The Saracen's Head, the timid hero, Willie de Littlehampton, is the black sheep in a family of military heroes. Thrust quite unprepared into King Richard's crusade in the Holy Land, by a series of unlikely events, Willie ends up besting El Babooni, the infidel champion, and carrying the royal standard up the walls of a fortress.
Ostensibly written for children, this slim volume is probably best appreciated by adults, who can better appreciate the wry pokes at notions of military glory. However, both children and adults will enjoy Lancaster's charming illustrations, which feature his trademark whimsical touches.
December 24, 2016
Description: A young English nobleman goes to the Crusades, and to the surprise of all returns not only with his life, but with a few other treasures!
May 24, 2016
Another charming little book of Lancaster's, this one chronicling the adventures of a Crusading Littlehampton and the source of that family's famous Saracen's Head crest.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews