This Was a Man (Clifton Chronicles)

Product Information

In Whitehall, Giles Barrington discovers the truth about his wife, but is she a pawn in a larger game? Sebastian Clifton finds himself in a new role after an unexpected resignation and his talented daughter, Jessica, goes to art school but gets into trouble. Can her aunt help?

Above all, the book is a homily to the strength of family. And it’s clear that this springs from Jeffrey’s experience. He didn’t know his father well — he died when Jeffrey was 11, but he adored his mother, and talks fondly of his sons, daughters-in-law and grandsons. Harry is working on an epic book — one that he hopes will cement his reputation. Is that Jeffrey’s intention too? “Yes,” he says. “Everything you have read in the book I have now started. I think the plot is the best idea I’ve ever had in my life.”An intriguing, funny and captivating story, hooking the audience straight away and not letting go.” Rebecca Robinson, The Good Review This Was a Man was refused licence by the Lord Chamberlain (Britain's theatre censor) at the time, despite allowing The Vortex, Noël Coward's play about drug addiction, on the public stage a few years earlier. The reality is that adultery was far more available to the masses than illegal narcotics were and after much debate in the Lord Chamberlain's office it was decided that it should be refused licence. Instead, the show played in New York in 1926. The book centres on Harry and Emma Clifton; he the writer, she the chairman of a hospital, who is, unexpectedly offered a job by Margaret Thatcher. She is pitted against her brother, Giles Barrington, a labour minister and acclaimed orator. This Was a Man was in fact officially suppressed in 1926. Coward’s depiction of proliferating adultery and divorces in upper-crust Kensington was banned by the Lord Chamberlain.” Kate Bassett, The Times I am Harry, and Mary is Emma,” says Jeffrey, but he agrees that there is a lot of him in Giles too.

One of those grownup plays that no one seems capable of writing nowadays, even though there is no Lord Chamberlain looking over our shoulder, tut-tutting.” Atomies We meet Harry, Emma, Giles, Karin, Sebastian, Samantha, Jessica, Lady Virginia and all the other characters we’ve come to love for the very last time. I don’t want to say too much a) because it would spoil it for those who haven’t yet read, and b) my husband is still working his way through the other books and wouldn’t be happy if he read any spoilers!, but this book was definitely worth the wait. It ties up all the little loose ends which have been unravelling all the way through the series, all the while managing to keep you hanging at the end of every chapter with a cliff-hanger in true Archer style. The ending was lovely, and I knew I would cry, but very fitting for these fine books. I’m not sure what I will have to look forward to now, Jeffrey Archer has managed to keep me in suspense until the new instalment came out for years. I suppose I shall have to read them all over again! Noël Coward explores the nature of marriage, friendship and what it means to be a man in his play.” Carolin Kopplin, UK Theatre NetworkHe was arrested in December 1943 and transported to Auschwitz in February 1944. He remained there until the camp was liberated on 27 January 1945. [3] If This Is a Man recounts his experiences in the camp.

In "The Last One" Levi describes the audacious schemes he and Alberto devise to acquire goods to exchange for bread. At the end of the day the prisoners are assembled to witness the hanging of a man who has taken part in an uprising. At the moment of death he cries out "Comrades, I am the last!" The prisoners look on passively, robbed by now of any autonomy. The play has comical moments, but This Was A Man is certainly darker than Coward's other work.” Andrew Tomlins, West End Frame Wow!!! Finished this fine series. Wonderful storytelling with Book 7 doing a great job of ending the Harry and Emma Clifton Chronicles, while leaving other generations in play in the event the author wants to bring the family story to the present as we end in 1992. Once described by a judge as ‘Fragrant’, Mary has stood by Jeffrey through the successes, and the many upsets in his life; the near bankruptcy, with the resultant political fallout; his years in prison and that whiff of sexual scandal.An English translation by Stuart Woolf was published in 1959. A German translation by Heinz Reidt appeared in 1961 (titled Ist das ein Mensch?) and a French edition in the same year. [7] Like most of Coward's work the play is only pretending to be immoral and has a profoundly moral and sentimental core.” Gerald Berkowitz, Theatre Guide London

The book is introduced by a poem. The construction "If ..." invites the reader to make a judgment. It alludes to the treatment of people as Untermenschen (German for "sub-humans"), and to Levi's examination of the degree to which it was possible for a prisoner in Auschwitz to retain his or her humanity. The poem explains the title and sets the theme of the book: humanity in the midst of inhumanity. In a nutshell, the story is extremely enticing, captivating and highly exciting despite being sympathetic in its own way. The author devised one hell of a spellbinding tale that won't disappoint any of his readers. He still takes an avid interest in politics. He dined with a cabinet minister earlier in the week, and is able to talk to almost everyone who matters in political circles, but does he wish he were still involved? Harry Clifton sets out to write his magnus opus, while his wife Emma completes her ten years as Chairman of the Bristol Royal Infirmary, and receives an unexpected call from Margaret Thatcher offering her a job. The characters yet once again excels with their striking demeanor. They are real to the very core, flawed, and extremely believable. All the characters are distinct from one another, and even the bad ones, like Lady Virginia too will make the readers fall for her constantly plotting ideas against the Cliftons, and also the weaker ones who make the story interesting. Each and every character is like a rare piece of gem that brightens up the whole story with their individual glow and aura.

Alex Corbet Burcher

I’ve listened to the previous six books in the Clifton Chronicles and this finale is one of the best. Snobbishly I think that Jeffrey Archer isn’t Graham Greene but by golly he can tell a story that keeps one on tenterhooks eager to find out what happens next. He has created some memorable characters not least Lady Veronica the Machavelli of the series: utterly over-the-top in her exploits but hugely entertaining as she seems to succeed in her plots only to be thwarted. It’s great stuff and I’m sorry that the series has ended in the 1990s as the next generation of Cliftons and Barringtons are developing into interesting characters. Maybe the next series will be the Barrington Chronicles? I hope so as it’s great fun to listen to good old fashioned story-telling in which good is pitted against evil and good eventually wins for a change. I also enjoy the inclusion of historical events and real people which adds colour and interest to the narrative. The author's inside knowledge of parliament and prison life lends veracity to many events in the book. Film includes Kids in Love, Turner, Welcome to the Punch, The Iron Lady, My Week With Marilyn, Mother’s Milk, The Kings Speech, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, Stiff Upper Lips, Mrs Dalloway, Heroes and Villains and In Your Dreams. The seventh and final volume in Jeffrey Archer’s New York Times bestselling Clifton Chronicles series, This Was a Man, brings the epic saga of the Clifton family’s love, loss, and ambition to a dazzling conclusion. Firstly I have to state how disappointed I am that this is the final book in the series! I have loved the Clifton Chronicles, the twists and turns, highs and lows, never knowing who is going to turn up dead and who will get a giant wind fall. It has all the heroes and villains you could wish for although all of them are 2D and the characters are extremely under developed for a 7 part series. However, this doesn't put much of a damper on the exciting storyline.