England, First & Last

by Anthony Bailey

This engaging memoir is a successor volume to Anthony Bailey's AMERICA, LOST & FOUND, an account of his experiences when, as a child, he was evacuated to the United States during WW II. In ENGLAND, FIRST & LAST, Bailey tells us what happened when he left his comfortable war-time home in Dayton, Ohio, as a boy of 11 and returned to his native England.

ENGLAND, FIRST & LAST is about coming of age in an exhausted, impoverished yet still proud country. It is also about readjusting to one's family and world when one feels a stranger. And it recalls with affection the special pangs of boyhood.

Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Anthony Bailey (born 1933) was a British non-fiction writer, and art historian.

He was evacuated to Dayton, Ohio, in 1940 during World War II. For many years he was a writer for the New Yorker magazine.

He died of corona virus in Colchester, Essex, which he contracted whilst in hospital for hip surgery after a fall at his home.

He lived in Mersea Island, near Colchester, Essex, with his wife Margot. They have four daughters: Liz, Annie, Katie and Rachel.

His obituary in the New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/26/bo...

Reviews

[Rho · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book about a boy returning to England after living for four years in the states during WWII. Going home to food rations, being called Yank by his mates because of his US accent, the interesting items of learning to respell works that are different in the states, going to public school and then on Oxford. Great book taking you back to hardships that the British endured during and after the war.