HORLER (Sydney).
The Man Who Mislaid the War.
Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper: “To Elsie, with many thanks for her kindness, from the author, Sydney Horler, 25/4/44”. The play is a laughable melodrama, in which a Rudolph Hess figure arrives in London by parachute, intending to install Lord Trout as leader of a Quisling government, to be thwarted by a writer who is clearly based on the author himself. Horler was a successful writer of over 150 thrillers, and was described by David Stafford, the historian of spy literature, as “among the worst” of British thriller writers. The only redeeming feature is Horler’s description of his own character as “flabby … bald … completely irresponsible”. A near fine copy in a slightly rubbed dust jacket.
