Peter Courtney Quennell was described in the (London) Times (29 October 1993) obituary notice as "probably the last genuine example of the English man of letters. The type, which reached its apogee in the Edwardian era, is traditionally characterized by someone who adopts literature as his profession and spends his entire life in its service without any other form of paid work." Indeed, apart from his war work and a brief period when he worked for an advertising agency, he made his living as an author, a biographer, an essayist, a travel writer, a book reviewer, and an editor. He built up an impressive body of work on which his reputation now securely rests.

He was born in Bromley, Kent, on 9 March 1905, the eldest son of Charles Quennell, an architect, and Marjorie Quennell, the eldest daughter of Alan and Clara Courtney. Soon after he was born the family moved into...