Henry 'Chips' Channon: The Diaries (Volume 1): 1918-38

Henry 'Chips' Channon: The Diaries #1

by Henry Channon, Simon Heffer (Editor)

The Sunday Times bestselling edition of Chips Channon's remarkable diaries.

Born in Chicago in 1897, 'Chips' Channon settled in England after the Great War, married into the immensely wealthy Guinness family, and served as Conservative MP for Southend-on-Sea from 1935 until his death in 1958. His career was unremarkable. His diaries are quite the opposite. Elegant, gossipy and bitchy by turns, they are the unfettered observations of a man who went everywhere and who knew everybody. Whether describing the antics of London society in the interwar years, or the growing scandal surrounding his close friends Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson during the abdication crisis, or the mood in the House of Commons in the lead up to the Munich crisis, his sense of drama and his eye for the telling detail are unmatched. These are diaries that bring a whole epoch vividly to life.

A heavily abridged and censored edition of the diaries was published in 1967. Only now, sixty years after Chips's death, can an extensive text be shared.

Genres: History, Diary, Biography, Nonfiction, Memoir, Politics, Historical

1003 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

He was educated in the United States and France and served in Europe with the American Red Cross during the First World War.

Reviews

[Geevee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chips Channon was a wealthy American who became a British citizen. He married into wealth, the Guinness Brewery dynasty and became a Minister of Parliament for Southend, Essex. Through his own friendships, his place in London society and as a MP, became very well connected to Royalty, Aristocracy, high-society, politicians, actors and actresses and artists amongst others, and also other notables including foreign royalty, diplomats and politicians, artists and actors.

With these connections his diaries are a very vivid and insightful view into Chips's world. He writes his diaries well making then a pleasure and indeed easy to read. Alongside this, Simon Heffer, the diaries' editor, has provided numerous footnotes to assist with the personalities and events described. That said even with these footnotes, I was forever reaching for my phone to Google the names to read more about them.

Of particular note are the early years where Channon works as a volunteer for the American Red Cross in France during the latter years of WWI; his move to England and citizenship; his life as a socialite and homosexual affairs and infatuations; his marriage to Lady Honor Iveagh and their ups and downs, and the birth of their son and his immense love for him [Paul, later MP and Lord Kelvedon]; his election as a MP and work in and dedication to the House of Commons, notably as a Private Parliamentary Secretary at the Foreign Office working for RAB Butler, then Foreign Secretary, giving him a front seat and involvement into Britain's doings on the world stage and notably, in this volume, the Munich Crisis of 1938 and his friendship with Royalty including a closeness to Edward, Prince of Wales [Later King Edward VIII] and Wallis Simpson, and his inside knowledge of the Abdication and the crisis surrounding it.

I grew to like Channon. He is disarmingly introspective, honest with himself (well except for his age, which he always knocks two years off), and we see his loves, worries, desires and ambitions. Likewise, he is generous, loving and fair to and about others, but also is critical, scathing, picky and indeed exercised by many friends, acquaintances, family and colleagues. He does make comments about Jews, other nations and indeed calls people of colour blackamoors or n*****s, but this is not racism or antisemitism, as is shown in the wider diaries on how he befriends and dines with people, but more how people then simply spoke and categorised people.

It has taken me some three months to read this huge book of 1000 pages, but it has been very much worthwhile. It is a hugely interesting and insightful journey into a world of money, wealth, privilege that on the whole is grappling with social, political, military and economic changes and of course their own lives, loves and worries.

Highly recommended.

My copy. Hardback first edition, published by Hutchinson Heinemann. Published London, England 2021. 1003 printed pages and sixteen plates with many black and white photos.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first volume of Henry ‘Chips’ Channon’s diaries take the reader from 1918 to 1938. It begins with Channon in Paris during WWI and there is then a gap until 1923, when the young Chips Channon embarks on endless long weekends, attends aristocratic weddings, goes to parties, balls, horse racing and socialises as though it is his career. In many ways it was. Names here include Vanderbilts, Curzons, Astors, Cunards, the ‘Yorks,’ and the Prince of Wales. Channon was very much a part of the Prince of Wales set and, indeed, during these diaries he seems always to back the ‘wrong horse,’ which makes the reader – who has the benefit of hindsight – aware of the disappointments that often await him.

Although born in America, Channon seemed to take a deep dislike towards his home country. This is another trait he has – disliking anything from people, such as Duff Cooper, to whole countries, including France and the French and to turn on those he previously lauded. In 1924 he has to leave his, ‘adored London,’ to sail to the States; declaring leaving was, ‘like a surgical amputation.’ He passed some weeks in the USA with his parents – ‘this cauldron of horror,’ and, as he left England, ‘felt my last link with civilisation snap.’ However, Chips Channon’s extremes are what make this diary so interesting. In his diary, kept utterly private, he can unload his real feelings about people, things, and places and he certainly doesn’t hold back. One of the reasons he struggled with America, becomes clearer when he bemoans, ‘Is our American aristocracy to descend from movie stars?’ Chips was not impressed by the fledgling admiration of the upstart famous, but rather loved the royals of all countries and, in this book, we discover his lust for social climbing and acceptance by the titled, as well as his love of gossip.

When his diaries were first published, they caused outrage and shock, but now that time has passed, hopefully nobody is left to be hurt. Although the reader can see how absurd Channon’s desperate longing for social acceptance was, these diaries are really addictive, and it is easy to totally sink into the pages. The diaries take the reader through the 1920’s, although there is a jump from 1929 to 1934 when we suddenly find Chips, who has spent much of the first half of the first volume seeming to delight in male company, suddenly married to Honor Guinness, after his beloved George gets engaged to Imogen Moggs.

By 1934, Channon has decided to stand as a Member of Parliament; involving many visits to Southend (luckily, his constituents did not get so much of a glimpse of his diary and what he thought of it, or them….). We then move on to the issues of the day. His dislike of Randolph Churchill, friendship with ‘Tom’ Mosley, thoughts of Country Houses, such as Cliveden (‘Sodom on Thames’), his interest in faddish diets, Mrs Simpson, meeting Mussolini, visiting Berlin during the Olympics, seeing Hitler, having dinner with Goering and visiting a labour camp (where he was totally taken in by the ‘tidy’, hard-working young men being re-educated there), his friendship with Ribbentrop and the battle for the throne during the abdication crisis.

Even Channon, who was most definitely a supporter of Edward and Mrs Simpson, felt HRH was, ‘the most indiscreet man in all London.’ Meanwhile, the new king is described by someone at the Palace as a ‘petulant lunatic,’ and forced into abdicating by the government. Channon predicts how bored and lonely the king would be, as the Palace puts its foot down and they are isolated and abandoned. With Edward and Mrs Simpson shuffled off into exile, there is little time to spend on what quickly becomes a story of the past. Politics are moving swiftly, and Chips – pro German – is in the House of Commons as war looms. As Channon’s marriage falters, the Germans march into Austria. Chamberlain is Prime Minister and Channon gleefully pours the current political gossip into his diary. Plots and factions abound; he applauds Chamberlain, Halifax and appeasement, while it becomes obvious to most that Hitler is not to be reasoned with.

Without doubt, the Abdication Crisis and the rumblings of war are central to this volume. Even though Channon was in Paris during the first world war, the only thing he did seem to take from it was his sensible desire not to be caught up in another war. No glory, he feels, in losing a limb and you sense his wish for hostilities to start once he is too old to fight or can wangle a desk job. His love for his son, Paul, does make him more sympathetic and, however ridiculous he appears, it is difficult not to get utterly engrossed in his musings of what colour jacket should be worn to a dinner, commiserate with his humiliation at not being invited to the Court Ball – again, or snigger at his sniping of ‘socialist’ politicians, who are not quite gentlemen and dare to wear flannel trousers in the House. Absurd, yes, but Chips was writing for himself and so his rants, snobbery, obsession with royalty and social climbing, are both fascinating and humorous. It is hard not to feel sorry for him as he has doubts about his marriage, longs for another child, is humiliated when caught out taking a couple of years off his age or has to hide his corset from both a guest who insists on following him while he changes, and then from housemaids, before they discover his hiding place. Despite his faults, this is an excellent read and an interesting historical account, from someone who knew everyone of importance in those fascinating pre-war years and the lead up to WWII. The next volume, ‘Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries (Volume 2): 1938-43’ are out in September 2021. I have already pre-ordered and cannot wait to re-enter his world.

[❀⊱RoryReads⊰❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

It has taken me five months to get through the first volume of Chips Channon's diaries and it was worth every hour I spent Googleing names, places and incidents so I could have a full picture of the people he knew and the times in which he lived. This is an absolutely fascinating, often hilarious memoir, full of personality and brimming with gossip about the famous and infamous alike. Channon pulled no punches (or very few), had strong opinions, was sometimes catty and knew or was connected in some way to everyone in society and government. These diaries were originally published in an edited form to protect Channon and others who had secrets they needed to keep and it's easy to see why. If you're at all fascinated by the interwar era of British history or society this book is a treasure chest. Onward to Volume 2!

[KOMET · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the spring of 2012, I had the pleasure of reading the abridged diaries (edited by Robert Rhodes James) of Henry 'Chips' Channon (1897-1958), which covered the years 1934 to 1953. (That heavily abridged book had originally been published in 1967, leaving out the names of most of the people Channon knew because many of them were still alive at the time of publication.).

Channon, an American by birth from a family of means (though not fantastically wealthy), graduated from Oxford in the early 1920s (where one of his contemporaries was Anthony Eden, who would later go on to occupy high office in the government and succeed the ailing Winston Churchill as Prime Minister in 1955), became a British citizen a decade later, married into one of Britain's wealthiest families, and won election to Parliament in 1935 as a Conservative M.P.

This volume of Channon's diaries covers wide swathes of the years 1918 to 1938. I say that because there are gaps (e.g. from 1919-22 and between January 6, 1929 and February 18, 1934) in the diaries during which Channon made no entries. Notwithstanding that, these diaries are very revealing in terms of Channon's life and the people who were a part of his social circle (many of them from the British royal family --- such as the Prince of Wales, who as Edward VIII abdicated the throne in December 1936 to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson with whom he was thoroughly besotted --- and the highest strata of British and European society).

As a reader, I very much appreciated the footnotes the editor of this volume (Simon Heffer) provided, which shed considerable light on the people who were in Channon's orbit, as well as insights into the cultural, historical, and political events between 1918 and 1938. They helped me to further understand and feel much a part of what Channon related in his diaries.

Admittedly, Channon was a snob, with strong right-wing leanings, and pro-German. (Not someone I would like to know.) The fact that he became pro-German I found interesting because during 1918, he had taken up residence in the Ritz Hotel in Paris while working for the Red Cross. He experienced the final year of World War I largely removed from the ravages of the conflict, except for the time during Germany's last gasp attempt to win the war during the spring and summer of 1918 when Paris was subjected to air raids and attacks from long range German artillery. Subsequently, Channon put his French experience far behind him after moving to Britain and becoming a lover of all things British. Indeed, he also became deeply disaffected from his own country and disdainful of Americans.

In a diary entry from July 19th, 1927, Channon freely admits that he is like his maternal grandmother: "luxurious, unscrupulous, amorous, impetuous, disdainful and haughty." Indeed, from reading the diaries, it becomes clear that he has pretty much been estranged from his parents most of his life. That may in some way explain why he made a complete break with his native land after marrying Honor Guinness in 1933.

THE DIARIES 1918-38 comes in at 1,002 pages (inclusive of 2 appendices written in January 1937 in which Channon spells out his feelings about the very recent abdication crisis, a 50-page index, and 2 sets of photos showing Channon and many of the people who figured prominently in his life). But don't be daunted by the size and scope of this book! The diaries are raw in their honesty as well as very entertaining.

"Whether describing the antics of London society in the interwar years, or the growing scandal surrounding his close friends Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson during the abdication crisis, or the mood in the House of Commons in the lead up to the Munich crisis, his sense of drama and his eye for the telling detail are unmatched. These are diaries that bring a whole epoch vividly to life."

I look forward to reading Volume 2 in the spring.

[Phil Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

What we learn is less about the critical events of the inter-war period, or obtain deep insights into the personalities of some of the key figures of the time. What we do get is twofold: an amazing insight into how upper class society worked and a wonderment about how successful Channon was in rising to the very top of that society.
It seemed that his own superficiality and unequalled arrogance was essential to his success. He worked at the level of appearance and feelings and that was it. For the most part he stroked the egos of those around him. He did make enemies but almost as part of a manipulation as many enemies seemed to end up his best friends. He did have some sense of right and wrong but this was overwhelmed by a pettiness, for example dangerously messing with someone's gunsight so that he would not match Chips' shooting achievement. His whole political and social philosophy was about the continuance of an upper class society where he could shine. Hitler was thus preferred to the communists or socialists and that was the depth of his thinking.
The revelation of the diaries was the wealth of detail about the trivial behaviour of upper class society and how the likes of Channon could be successful in it. No one came out well because we learned nothing about the achievements of all the famous names, but only about how they behaved in society which seemed to be invariably unflattering.
It must be said that one key to his success seemed to be his organising ability both of events like parties but also ensuring that the right present arrived at the right time. He always knew the correct thing to do. He was no fool.
The difficulty of the book is the repetitive nature of the descriptions of continual partying. That said I did have to read the whole thing as I seemed compelled to read from one day to the next without skipping as you never knew when a surprise was coming.
I look forward to Volume 2.

[Shawn Thrasher · Rating 5 out of 5]

So a very famous person, once famously said, in a very famous movie: "You know how bitchy f**s can be." (see: Valley of the Dolls). This, perhaps, could have been the subtitle of this volume of Chips Channon's diaries (although he was bisexual rather than gay, I would assume from the dairies). Also, Channon himself wrote in one passage: "A servant came to me saying, ‘As His Lordship is dining with His Majesty, will you lend him your cigarette case and diamond links?’" This also could be the subtitle of this book. Channon's diaries are honest and often funny, sometimes moving, and more than often disturbing. He wrote anti-Semitic and racist things; he was an appeaser who loved the Nazis. He was a gross snob, a starfucker (royalty fucker, really), and name dropper. But he also had a front row seat to the abdication crisis (being great friends with Wallis Simpson), wrote all sorts of juicy bits of gossip, and gives us all an insider's view of one man's aristocratic British life during the 1920s and 1930s. It's a long book (and this is only the first volume) but it's worth it.

[Keith · Rating 1 out of 5]

An utterly vile man! Vain, pompous, racists, obsessed with royalty (like a star-struck teenager following the goings on celebrity life), wrong on so many fronts (inter alia the threat of the rise of the far-right across Europe), snobbish, anti-democratic and money-obsessed amongst his many many failings. Obviously, I was aware of at least some of these characteristics before picking up this book, bu in vain, I hoped for at least an interesting perspective - and possibly a little bot of objectivity - around the crises of the time (the abdication, anchlus of Austria, threat to Sudentland etc), but sadly no. Occasionally entertaining, but really not worth the effort. On a separate note - did the editor (Simon Heffer) really need quite to many footnotes?Many of the notes were superfluous and the level seemed appropriate for a rather young and relatively unworldly readership.

[Miss M]

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2...

[Forthbridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Channon had a bad press - supporting Hitler and cronies was not the best career move. But the diaries have appeal with frankness being a huge asset. He does not pretend to be a nice person. Lots of sex, spending and political intrigue. I think that it does illustrate a time in history when Lord Bagwash and fellow feudal knights and robber barons held sway. With tech billions bidding for the current political players, we might not have advanced all that much. Full marks to Simon Heffer for wading through the acres of material.

[PAUL · Rating 2 out of 5]

Diary of a scrounging ponce would have been a more apt title.

[Christopher Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fantastically enjoyable diaries of a loathsome man with few redeeming qualities. Close enough to all the major events of his day to provide a different insight into them all, albeit he had little real power or influence himself. The levels of snobbery and social ambition on display are staggering at times, as is Channon's political stupidity - his views lack nuance and are unchanging. Heffer does an excellent job with the footnotes, providing necessary biographical details of the many personalities Channon meets, as well as eccentric facts about those personalities where possible. Only negative is that Heffer is far too apologetic towards Channon - you get the sense he quite likes him really, and is constantly making excuses for his views, especially his anti-Semitism.

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Chips' Channon was an American who served with the American Red Cross in Paris in the First World War, fell in love with Europe and rarely returned home to Chicago. Gossipy and snobbish, he must have had a lot of charm, because he managed to establish himself in London high society, making friends with royalty and marrying a Guinness heiress.

He becomes less likeable with time, especially as an admirer of fascism in the 1930s. But at the same time his abilities as a diarist develop, he is close to the principal characters in the abdication crisis, and he becomes an MP. So if you have an interest in British/European politics during the buildup to the Second World War, it is fascinating to hear him bring his slanted view of all this to sparkling life.

Sometimes he is spot on with his predictions - for example, when Princess (now Queen) Elizabeth was born, he sees her as a future queen, even though to most people it must have seemed very likely that she would be pushed down the line of succession by a later-born brother or any child born to the then Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII.

The book ends with the Munich Agreement of 1938, which Channon applauds. The next volume covers only 5 years, taking us into World War II. Channon hates Winston Churchill, so his view of the Blitz and the retreat from Dunkirk are bound to be unusual and probably unsettling. These are very long books but I think it will be worth continuing.

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chips Channon comes across as a deeply unpleasant person in his diaries - he was clearly an unrepentant snob who was only interested in the lives of royalty and aristocrats (despite serving as Member of the British House of Commons) and his writings are peppered with casual racism and fascism. Channon treats his mother badly and writes as though he views his parents only as a source of funds for his lavish lifestyle.
As a historical document, however, the diaries provide an detailed portrait of the British elite between the First and Second World Wars - how they socialized, what dances and clothing came in and out of fashion and how they responded to world events in the moment. Channon's wide circle of royal connections results in descriptions of minor and former royalty in his diaries who are rarely mentioned in other primary sources. The audiobook is well read and includes Channon's extended thoughts on the abdication crisis of 1936. The beginning and end of the diaries capture the atmosphere of Paris in 1918 as the First World War and then the anxiety in Europe on the eve of the Second World War as British people in Europe rushed home in 1938-1939. A valuable historical document that is sometimes difficult to get through because of the repugnant personality and attitudes of the author.

[Arnis · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/202...

[MJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting diaries about a meaningful period in history, written by somebody who nearly always turned out to be on the wrong side. Endless amount of footnotes.

[Kirsty · Rating 5 out of 5]

How does one rate a diary, especially one where the views are disagreeable but is nevertheless an important account of a being in high society journeying through the decadence and turbulence of the early twentieth century. The first quarter reads like Dorian Gray’s personal diary, I think the real low of his sexual escapades was getting canned over an altar by Montagne Summers (how jaded do you have to be!). You can’t argue that it’s anything but a very honest diary, and not one I would have left intact if it were mine. So 5 stars for being honest and brave enough to have it published posthumously.

It’s a unique front row seat to both World Wars, the Spanish flu, and the Kings abdication. On a personal level his very close relationships are touching, and he occasionally has some profound insights buried under his usual catty remarks he liberally dispenses.

His pro-Hitler sympathies are interesting and I’ve been patiently waiting for his mind to change on that account, he seems quite slow in this regard compared with his contemporaries; the next volume will prove interesting. It’s going to be a difficult revelation. This volume leaves us on the cusp of WWII being declared.

[Christine Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that’s probably my reading challenge scuppered for this year! 900 pages plus chronicling a very interesting period of European history and the social doings of the upper crust of society. Though the writer is an obnoxious little snob with poor judgement … it was a v enjoyable read.

[Judith Bowen · Rating 1 out of 5]

A most unpleasant man, reading it was rather like dealing with a terrible itch, couldn't leave it alone and I knew or was related to so many of they people he wrote about. But oh an unpleasant anti semitic who preferred fascists to the left wing/labour party
And a dreadful snob, social climber
I only read it because of the fact that he had written about people I had known

[Soph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well edited collection, dreadful man

[Reason Restored · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinary if sometimes contrary and contradictory witness to the corridors of political power and the Courts of aristocratic privilege in the first half of the 20c.
As lacking in self awareness as he is in some areas (his own parvenu snobbery) he nevertheless shows a genuine honesty and sometimes piercing clarity about others which makes his insights into the personalities he associates with so much more than mere gossip.
Chips can describe a longtime friend with as many negative epithets as positive ones, and a current enemy likewise. These rounded appraisals of people are therefore compelling and believable.
He is educated and knowledgeable but so blinded by his own prejudices and peccadillos that his political skills are only applicable at the interpersonal level.
His inability to grasp the sweep of history as it swirls around him is such that it’s like listening to a modern parody of a political talk show. He couldn’t be more wrong about which way the tide is turning. And yet… perhaps history always looks as if this were the only possible outcome. What if it’s not?
A little background on where he comes from and how he entered such exalted society so readily would be interesting, but diarists rarely start as biographers do.
I found it genuinely interesting that his seemed (at least within his own rarified milieu) to identify the good and bad in people, rather than the good and bad people, as it seems we do now.
For all his prejudices, and they are many and sometimes quite absurdly irrational, even when looked at through his own times, he seems not to ‘cancel’ people whom he identifies as having flaws the way we do now. People are people to him, and while he judges readily, he doesn’t then categorise forever.
His detailed accounts of a life of pleasure amongst the very rich and titled are almost too much to bear. I was exhausted just reading about his social engagements and fascinated by the attention paid to the most pointless of activities, social rules, diversions etc.
His interest in jewels, his almost reverence for them alerted me to why they have been prized throughout the ages and in so many cultures. Bizarrely jewels for the powerful and the beautiful are clearly a cross cultural phenomena.
The often oblique references to sex and sexuality are similarly interesting, giving us clear line of sight on homosexual activity in a pre Gay world.
We so often see all love between men these days through that suspicious prism. But here there is (again) almost no categorising of his friends and acquaintances based on their sexual activities, rather he sees them first and foremost as people, and no occasional (or repeated) sexual behaviour requires a permanent label, positive or negative.
His insights into the Abdication really do throw new light on that much picked over affair, though again, his feeling for the sensibilities of people other than those he rattled around with seem tellingly off key. Perhaps because despite his will to the contrary, he was after all an American and struggled to understand the delicate and constantly morphing relationship that any British monarch has with his or her subjects. A difficult and perhaps too illogical a thing even for an Englishman to articulate.
We get an incredible insight into the last of ‘Royal’ France, indeed an insight into a part of a society still rooted in the 18c let alone the 19th!
In England he is certainly living with the last of the Edwardian’s, but we know this was still the case before WW2.
One thing I must say is that the reader has the perfect voice to deliver Chips diaries. This may be the best read audiobook I have ever listened to. The readers mellifluous tones reminded me of the great theatre actors of the 20c, Gielgud, Olivier or Richardson. It was a joy to hear him from start to finish. His French pronunciation as impeccable as his English to my ear at least.
It would be easy to make the mistake of reading Chips diaries with a pseudo ‘posh villain’ style, and our reader avoids that. Reading with sincerity at all times. Beautiful, and so much more illuminating than forcing the words through any idea he might have of him as a ‘character’.
This book won’t be for everyone and I suspect many will become bored quickly with his self absorbed tales of parties with duchesses and eaves-dropping on the political crisis of the day.
Some who do read it may come away thinking of Chips as a sort of posh Pooter, risible and funny at the same time. I did not. His vanities, prejudices, ignorance’s, hypocrisy’s and general appalling ideas and political briefs aside, he’s an unusual and credible witness to, and narrator of, some fascinating political and cultural times.
I’m not sure if his son ever read these diaries, but it must be heartwarming to read such genuinely loving and affectionate words from the father about his then very young son.
I shall listen to Volume 2 immediately.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been on my bucket list since the 1970s, when a highly redacted smattering of Channon's notorious diaries were published. Simon Heffer has completed the monumental task of compiling a complete version using the original sources materials. And while a number of Channon's targets were still alive and kicking when the expurgated single volume was published, all of the people are now pushing up the strawberries. As far as Heffer is concerned, it's time to rock and roll. And boy howdy, does he!
Channon was a Midwesterner who went to Europe in 1917 and never came back. He liked the English way of life enough to become a naturalized citizen, marry a member of the Guinness family and eventually become a more or less important MP. Channon was also relentlessly snobbish, racist, antisemitic, waspish (he occasionally makes the Duc de Saint-Simon's diaries look like the adventures of Pollyanna), bisexual and unfortunately for Channon, a political acolyte of Neville Chamberlain. Heffer points out that none of these were particularly unusual positions for members of the English political establishment, but he also makes a point to underscore every time Channon is being a bitch by countering the diary with the funniest footnotes imaginable. These are on every page, and create a dialogue between Channon and Heffer. It is very important that the person responsible for your posthumous reputation at least likes you on some level. Heffer delights in correcting errors Channon makes about . . . well, everything. If Channon assesses that a woman is an elderly hag of 80, Heffer simply notes "she was actually 42". Sometimes the note itself is so good that you would rather read it than Channon. For example, Channon notes that he has been introduced to a Roman Catholic priest who dabbles in the occult. Channon is fascinated (he has a mind like a butterfly), but as Heffer notes: "Augustus Montague Summers (1880-1948). He passed himself off as a Roman Catholic clergyman, though there is no evidence he was ever ordained. He wrote extensively on the occult and was, perhaps predictably (italics mine, but you have to love the phrase in context, amirite?) an expert on the marquis de Sade." And then comes the last line: "He was buried with his manservant." One hopes the manservant died first, rather than forced into suttee at the funeral. At any rate, I want to read more about Mr. Summers, who also would occasionally flog Channon for fun. Honestly, though? There are one or two footnotes of this caliber on every one of Volume 1's 1000 pages. I had to put the book down because I was frequently laughing out loud. Heffer is brilliant in ineluctably, drily presenting Channon as a sort of Monty Python twit. To be fair to Channon, he himself has occasional, fleeting moments of self-analysis that indicate full awareness of twit-dom.
So why the hoopla about the diary? If you are at all interested in England during the 1920s and 30s, Channon is indispensable. He knew everyone worth knowing, and as evidenced by Heffer's footnotes, quite a few who weren't. The Abdication crisis found him firmly on the side of Edward and Wallis, despite expressing written unease about the Prince of Wales' character for at least a decade. Channon was briefly out of favor with the new Court, but only briefly. He had been close to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, and intimate friends with the Duke and Duchess of Kent. But everyone show up within these pages, giving you a worms-eye view of how power functioned in pre-War Europe. Heffer's notes clarify everything and everyone Channon meets, but he never hesitates to point out when Channon's political and personal judgement erred. I am sorry to say that Channon was wrong about nearly everything and everyone.
On to Volume 2.

[Lili · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book should genuinely count as three considering the thousands of footnotes I read
I think it's difficult to review someone's diaries considering they weren't supposed to be shared to a wider readership but having read this book over the course of about 5 months I can confidently say that these diaries are very good. Channon had a gift for making social connections and this is apparent in the hundreds of notable people he met from those like Goebbels to Rudyard Kipling to Wallis Simpson to Maud Cunard. He's also a particularly fascinating character in that he seems to always be in the most interesting place at a particular time. The diaries open with Channon in France in 1918 as the first world war was coming to a close and they end with him in 1938 just before the Munich Conference. Throughout, Channon wines and dines and travels, at times writing to his parents in Chicago for more money yet writing extensively on how much he hates America and Americans and making connections

The 1920s in Henry Channon's diaries mostly consists of him going to parties, listing all the famous and notable people there, travelling in Europe and being in love with his best friend at the time, George Gage. Channon is a good writer of relationships and people; talking extensively about people's characters throughout his diaries and His selection of adjectives is always fantastically accurate, often writing things of people such as "she was homely, kind, a capable hostess and an utter bore". He has other significant affairs such as a short lived fling with Tallulah Bankhead and a weird thing with Priest Montague Summers.

The 1930s are particularly interesting because in 1933, he married Lady Honour Guinness and became an MP in 1935 and so is heavily involved with politics of the time: Mussolini and Hitler's consolidation of power, Edward VII's abdication crisis and the leadup to WWII. During this time, he and his wife also have their only son Paul whom Channon loves deeply and often talks about how much he adores his child, but his and his wife's marriage begins to break down and in some ways it's sad to read Channon stress about how long his wife has spent skiing abroad (where we later found out she was having an affair with her ski instructor).

It needs to be noted however, that Channon was incredibly racist, anti-semitic, borderline a fascist (described meeting Hitler as even more exciting than when he met Mussolini) and a massive snob. At times it can be uncomfortable to read the racist things he writes, as well as his support and adoration of Hitler, Mussolini and Franco. On the flip side, this is a particularly valuable insight into the views of British high society at the time as Channon was espousing the views that many others also held, such as his support of Franco. His snobbery is second to none and can be genuinely hilarious to read at times, such as his derision of Rudyard Kipling as being far too middle class and writing that he only really feels comfortable and at home with royalty. One has to respect his social climbing. At least he's not misogynistic though!

Overall, a really fantastic collection of diaries that would interest anyone who wants to read about this time period or just some guy's witty and snobby comments of random lords and ladies who're now long dead

[Laura Daly · Rating 4 out of 5]

So first of all let me say that I am a big fan of diaries and a big fan of the period in British History from the reign of Queen Victoria to the start of the second world war. I am really interested in the social and political History of the 1900s onwards. I find the personalities /events of this period such as the Mitford's, Duff and Diana Cooper and of course the Abdication very interesting. So reading the diaries of the American social climber Chips Channon seemed a natural choice.

The diaries start with Channon in Paris working as an honorary attaché at the American embassy in Paris, no fighting for our Chips. Channon seemed somehow always to find himself among high society and even during the war in Paris, all be it coming to an end he is living it up at the dinner tables of the upper class. He does not let us into his life at Oxford but it was here he met Prince Paul who would become the Regent of Yugoslavia and George Gage. He declares his love for both men thought latterly he seems to fall out of love with Gage. Channon was either gay or bisexual and I have no doubt he and Prince Paul were lovers.

There is no doubt that Channon was very good at social climbing and they must have liked him or else they would not have kept asking him to dine! He peppers his diary with his love for Gage and Prince Paul and there is an undertone of a love that dare not speak its name. Channon I find I do not like one little bit, he is snobbish, he hates his native America and both his parents but has no problem taking his Grandfathers and Fathers money. He wants to be a Lord and very rich, he cares of nothing outside the English aristocracy and his own world.

He via his marriage to Honor Guinness gets himself money, a seat in the House of Commons and a Son who he clearly loves. He writes of the Abdication but I find that he puts himself in a much more important light in it that he was. He was a PPS and really had little to do but watch Edward VIII walk away with that other social climber Wallace. So while there is no doubt he was in and around the aristocracy and was PPS to Rab Butler he was never going to go any further as he neither had talent or a work etic. As I said I did not like him but if you are interested in this error of British History and enjoy diaries you should read this volume. Will I read parts 2 and 3 I have not quite made up my mind. Would I have have Chips at my dinner table.... not in a millon years.

[Sharon Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Henry "Chips" Channon was a British Conservative Party politician and aggressive social climber who kept diaries for a good deal of his life, possibly aiming to be another Samuel Pepys. Actually he's more like a very tame, underdone Truman Capote. An ardent royalist, appeaser and naive admirer of Hitler, he is about as out of step with our modern age as anyone can be.

Most of the entries concern his social activities, chiefly lunches and dinners with various royals and members of the aristocracy - in fact, his constant name-dropping is startling, until you realise that his carefully cultivated social position did give him genuine access to the upper classes, including royalty, and his involvement in politics gave him something of an insider's view of the events of the day. The main problem is that most of these people are now-forgotten remnants of a past age: we may have heard the names Lady Curzon, Duff Cooper, Emerald Cunard - but who cares about them now? Much less what they served for dinner or how they decorated their houses.

The diaries cover the period 1918-1938, starting just before the end of the first world war and ending after an intense coverage of the abdication crisis. There are gaps: the years 1919-22 and 1930-33 are missing; the years 1923-29 and 1934-38 form the bulk of the record. The best part of the book concerns the abdication of Edward VIII (the future Duke of Windsor). Channon is critical of his character and believes he never wanted to be king and may even have been discussing abdication long before it was officially on the table. Equally, Channon praises Wallis Simpson and claims that many members of society welcomed her into their midst before her relationship with Edward moved to crisis point. He attempts to debunk "lies" that were circulating about how much jewellery Edward gave her and how much of it was from his royal ancestors, but the later auction of her jewels would seem to give the lie to his denials!

The book has been edited meticulously and researched thoroughly. Every name, event and place mentioned is identified in a footnote and translations are supplied for the many times Channon uses Italian and French words and phrases - a habit I found irritating and affected. The idea, if you do want to read this book, is to consult the index; you will soon weary of reading it continuously.

[Neil Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un homme entretenu

An extremely informative read. And an easy one.

It took me quite a while to get through it as there a lot of footnotes and while no referring to them is not strictly necessary, learning about all the people and places mentioned in the diary entries make it somewhat more interesting. Channon's use of French and some German words and phrases can get a bit annoying.

You get a very detailed account of life of the rich in 1920s London. All the divorces, bed and wife swapping etc which was par for the course amongst the glitterati.

What absolutely amazes me is how this man, who was basically an American of really little note, other than thanks to his family, was reasonably wealthy but not super rich, managed to climb his way into the absolute top of British and European nobility and royalty. His intimates we're Edward Prince of Wales, the Kents, every British lord lady and duke you can name and then all European Royalty, many now long gone.

His later wealth appeared to come from his marriage to Lady Honor Iveagh of the Guinness family who were of course super rich.

His father in law, by Channon's admission appears to have thrown money at him.

Honor eventually divorced him. I am keen to find out if his
father in law continued to bank roll h after the divorce or if during his 12 year marriage to her was able to amass a fortune of his own to enable him to continue the upper crust life which had become accustomed to and which he appears to believe he is entitled to

It is also enlightening when you find out that in those days, government was entirely by upper crust Estonians and Oxford people, not all of whom came away with a degree. There was also a huge number of gay and bisexual men, for whom life was doubly difficult because of the 'sodomy laws' extant in those days and which were rigidly enforced. Thankfully now gay men have things not quite so difficult, though there is still room for improvement.

I also found it interesting too that Channon
knew many of the 'Glamour Boys', who featured in a book by a different author, about a group of largely gay and bisexual men in government at that time who were, fortunately anti-appeasers, which is with reading.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]


This is a literally a heavyweight tome, a collection of the 1918-1938 diaries of the little known Henry ‘Chips’ Channon, a social butterfly amongst the greatest and glamorous society circles of Paris, London and New York in the first half of the twentieth century.

A joy to read, Channon is a wonderful writer, diarist and social commentator and his insights into the comings and goings of the who’s who of the upper classes is unique and a hugely important and impressive record of the people and places of the era.

Channon compares himself to other significant diarists such as Greville and Pepys and recognised that, if only to humour himself in his old age, his writings should be collected together as a volume. And it is this collection that Simon Heffer has so adroitly pulled together in an entertaining and astonishing historical record.

Channon dined with royalty and the highest echelons of society and his diaries often read as a never-ending list of name dropping lunches, dinners and balls with bridge parties and games of sardines in palaces and fine houses across the land. He is friends to the royal houses of Europe, to the richest and biggest names of England and America and he also seems to have the most amazing luck at bumping into other significant figures including John Buchan and Igor Stravinksy. He is often at the centre of significant events and as such, uniquely placed in his recollections which are witty, bitchy, glittering and scandalous as well as poignant and entertaining. He dotes on Elizabeth Duchess of York and is in the inner circle of Edward, Prince of Wales at a time of huge political and social turmoil in the United Kingdom.

Largely existing on hugely generous settlements from his wealthy Chicago family, Channon eventually married into the Guinness family and became MP for Southend-on-Sea where he served from 1935 to his death in 1958. Whilst the consensus is that his career was unremarkable, his writing and ability to cast a shrewd, observational eye over his fellow humans is exceptionally perceptive and acutely profound.

This is undoubtedly a unique record of a very different time and deserves to be widely read.

[James Wilson FRHistS · Rating 4 out of 5]

A striking insight into a long vanished world. Channon is almost a real-life Bertie Wooster as he goes from one party to a shooting weekend to a lunch to a dinner to the races to another dinner in a relentless round of socialising with the great and the good. It's not entirely clear how he managed to get in 'the set' or how the organising worked - who was inviting him, and who was managing his rather crammed diary. He was clearly a crashing snob: he only seems to mentioned titled people (despite not being one himself), disdains his American origins, and is endlessly judgemental.

After a time Channon's endless round of largely vacuous activities in the 1920s becomes rather tedious and repetitive. In the 1930s he actually gets a job (very un-Woosterlike) as an MP. It's no real surprise that he becomes an appeaser - the principal ideological fear of the privileged classes in Europe in the 1920s/30s was communism (the Russian Revolution being very recent to them) and fascism was seen as a bulwark against it. They also knew another war would be devastating and likely end their way of life. But that is to explain, not excuse - others just as privileged as him saw fascism for what it was.

Simon Heffer has done an exhaustive job footnoting each of the worthies and bores surrounding Channon, along with translating Channon's French phrases and providing other context. If one is interested in the interwar period in Britain, particularly of the fortunate elite, it is highly recommended.

[Mark Latchford · Rating 3 out of 5]

What an annoying chap Chips was. Nevertheless his massive diaries provide a distracting and at times quite entertaining segue from today’s trials and tribulations. His lack of depth comes through loud and clear. Early does he record anything of substance about the politics and policies of the day despite being an MP for much of the book. The pages are crammed with details of the endless parties he went to day in day out. The string of characters who appear is enormous and you need to have one hand working Wikipedia to get more information about such characters, especially the various men he periodically fell in love with. He was besotted with royalty and his commentary leading up to Edward VIII ascension and then abdication lies at heart of the book (but alas nothing very insightful or wise captured). Channon’s views on the abdication; on Nazi Germany; on Chamberlain, Churchill and Eden continually remind the reader how he misjudged time and time again. The editor seems to have done little more than add one line footnotes about whoever the diaries mention. It was worthy of much more substantive commentary about the characters and issues and events mentioned. Worth a read in small doses. Ie a few weeks of diaries at a time. Not sure I shall rush for the next volumes

[Malcolm Schaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this very difficult to rate .Firstly the diaries are very long and I appreciate the problems for the editor in knowing how much to take out but I did find left in a lot of repetitive events ,oh no not another dinner party etc
Secondly it is impossible to disengage completely from what an unpleasant snobbish racist pro Nazi self important individual Channon is
That being said ,it does present what is probably an accurate record of what the ruling class were like in those days - I hope no longer but not completely confident
Secondly it presents a contemporary account of significant events most notably the abdication,Munich, and from a greater distance the Spanish Civil War.The diaries start towards the end of the First World War and the accounts of dining in Paris while the Germans bomb are some of the best accounts of the book.
I like political diaries and next on my list are those of Duff Cooper - it will be interesting to compare .Whether I can stomach another two volumes of Chips Channon is debatable

[Pauline Butcher Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly read, 'I am happiest with royalty' Chips says, and especially Edward and Mrs Simpson. Insufferable it is, as barely a day goes by without a grand lunch, dinner party, dance or gathering of upper-crust English and European royals. Though Chips is an MP for Southampton, there's not a word about poverty or homelessness or concern for his constituents - only how well his speeches are received. Worst of all, is his admiration for Hitler, his hero, and hurrahs for Chamberlain's appeasement policy. I've given it five stars because Channon refused to scribble out these mistakes when he would later learn of Hitler's evil ways. I look forward to the second volume to see how Chips deals with Hitler's military charge through Europe and Chamberlain's fall.