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Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries (Volume 1)

1918-38

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Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries (Volume 1)

By: Chips Channon
Narrated by: Tom Ward
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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, 60 years after Chips' death, can the text be shared in all its glory.

©2021 Chips Channon (P)2021 Penguin Audio 20th Century Diaries & Journals Europe Great Britain Historical Memoirs, Diaries & Correspondence Modern Inspiring England Funny Thought-Provoking
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Critic reviews

The greatest British diarist of the 20th century. A feast of weapons-grade above-stairs gossip. Now, finally, we are getting the full text, in all its bitchy, scintillating detail, thanks to the journalist and historian Simon Heffer, whose editing of this vast trove of material represents an astonishing achievement. Channon is a delightful guide, by turns frivolous and profound. (Ben Macintyre)
Wickedly entertaining . . . scrupulously edited and annotated by Simon Heffer. Genuinely shocking, and still revelatory. (Andrew Marr)
Sensation, spite, social climbing, high society, self-indulgence, sex; Chips Channon had the raw materials to make his uncensored diaries newsworthy a century after he began them. They shock, repel and compel because they don't conceal . . . He is calculating, selfish, amoral, vain, ambitious and deluded, and more of us should follow his example. Not in the living, but in the recording of it. (Jenni Russell)
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The narration seemed a little odd at first and not very relaxing. However the content is so revealing and intimate that it is a worthy listen overall. This is an inside story of between the wars aristocracy that lifts the lid on the superficial others. Chips’ contemporaneous comments are thought provoking and better than hindsight. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the period covered. Where else will you find pen portraits of so many people of the times? Go for it!
Kenneth.

I stuck with it and really liked it

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Channon is the most repellant, loony right creature, I have come across for a long time. Talk about being on the wrong side of history.

That said however, he does expose the monarchy, the aristocracy, the Conservative party and the press barons, for what they were at this time. Namely, Nazi-apologists and sympathisers. This is what makes this missive important.

Channon is not only a hypocritical, cap doffing, lickspittle, he is also completely lacking in self-awareness, and is crass in the extreme. He condemns himself and the low life he surrounds himself with, in his own words. What a shower, but it was ever thus.

I suppose the diaries are historically important. On a lighter note, the narrator does a good impression of Christopher Lee.

This book and Channons utter pomposity, narcissism, snobbery, anti democratic musings, and hatred for most of this islands inhabitants are the ingredients for revolution. We dodged a bullet when he and his ilk were finally exposed and side lined.

Nazis in high places.

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narrator fantastic. best moment was where were the Americans in the war of the roses.

you've got to love him

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Channon lived in interesting times and his view on these events is fascinating. The book does plod through endless luncheons, dinners and balls, name dropping endlessly. The diary is delightfully candid and bitchy, also it is a change to see both Mrs Simpson and Hitler regarded differently.

A window on a vanished world

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It's an amazing insight by a self-obsessed social climber. It really is an amazing social/historical record. Can't wait for the next volume.

So very revealing, as events were happening.

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