Decline And Fall – Evelyn Waugh

Description

Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh is a sharp, darkly comic satire of British society in the 1920s. The novel follows the hapless Paul Pennyfeather, who, after being unjustly expelled from Oxford for indecent behaviour, finds himself accepting a teaching post at the eccentric Llanabba Castle. The school is staffed by an assortment of peculiar and often dubious characters, including the permanently sozzled Captain Grimes and the neurotic Prendy, setting the stage for a series of farcical and often absurd events.

As the story unfolds, Paul becomes entangled in the world of the wealthy and scandalous when he meets the glamorous and enigmatic Margot Beste-Chetwynde. What begins as a simple school sports day spirals into a wild series of misadventures involving high society, criminal schemes, and social ruin. Taking its title from Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Waugh’s debut novel is a masterclass in satire, mocking the hypocrisy, snobbery, and absurdity of upper-class British life between the wars.

Wickedly funny and endlessly quotable, Decline and Fall is ideal for readers who enjoy sharp wit, social commentary, and a touch of the absurd in their fiction.