Auberon Waugh is an important figure in the world of postwar British letters, the author of five novels that comprise only part of his claim to critical attention. He published his first novel, The Foxglove Saga (1960), at the age of twenty-one; a precocious book somewhat in the vein of his father, Evelyn, it was followed by four more in eleven years. Since that time he has published no more novels, turning his attention instead to public affairs, the changes in contemporary culture (usually, in his view, its deterioration), and literary issues addressed from the point of view of a reviewer or editor rather than a novelist. He has a powerful and distinctive voice and stance. Arguably his most lasting achievement will be his invention of the mock diary, which is a form of fiction even if not a conventional novel.

Auberon Alexander Waugh was born on 17 November 1939 in...