The Henry Williamson Society
The Gale of the World - Critical reception
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Photographic essay (HW's photos of the Lynmouth Flood Disaster, and others)
Critical reception:
As might be expected with such a complex book, the reviews tended to be mixed. While most reviewers appreciated the achievement of the series as a whole, some could not see the wood for the trees, while others were completely baffled. Only a small number really understood HW's overall purpose.
Smith's Trade News, 10 May 1969 (A not quite accurate synopsis of the plot!):
Evening News (Bristol) (Jeremy Brien), 29 May 1969:
Oxford Mail, 29 May 1969:
Daily Express, 29 May 1969:
Daily Mail, 30 May 1969 (short and sweet!):
Guardian (Christopher Wordsworth), 5 June 1969:
Glasgow Herald (Donald MacCormick), 5 June 1969:
New Statesman (Clive Jordan), 6 June 1969:
Birmingham Post (R. C. Churchill), 7 June 1969:
The Times Saturday Review (Michael Ratcliffe), 7 June 1969:
The Sunday Times (Julian Symons), 8 June 1969:
Sunday Telegraph (Francis King), 8 June 1969:
The Sunday Telegraph review was accompanied by this caricature by the noted cartoonist Nicolas Bentley:
Northern Echo (W. J. Nesbitt), 13 June 1969:
Western Times (Exeter), 13 June 1969:
The Bookseller, 14 June 1969 (from a photocopy; a survey of some of the reviews in the nationals):
The Spectator (M. Capitanchik), 14 June 1969:
Independent (Plymouth) (Michael Miller), 15 June 1969; the review is headed:
Times Literary Supplement, 19 June 1969 (anonymous, as were all the reviews in the TLS for many years):
HW responded to this review in the issue for 26 June 1969:
Times Educational Supplement, 20 June 1969:
Southern Evening Echo (W. M. Hill), 20 June 1969 (If only the reviews were all as insightful – this one must have been balm to HW’s soul!):
Catholic Herald (Fr Brocard Sewell), 20 June 1969 (photocopy only in archive):
The Scotsman (Jeremy Rundall), 21 June 1969:
Illustrated London News (Dominic Le Foe), 28 June 1969:
Eastern Daily Press (Doreen Wallace), 3 July 1969:
Scarborough Evening News, 4 July 1969:
Liverpool Daily Post (Rosaleen Whateley), 9 July 1969:
Observer, 13 July 1969:
South Wales Echo, 25 July 1969:
Methodist Recorder (Leslie Farmer), 7 August 1969:
The Listener (Richard Jones), 14 August 1969:
Western Morning News, 15 August 1969:
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Books & Bookmen (Roger Baker), August 1969:
The Countryman (Ronald Blythe), Autumn 1969:
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Back to The Gale of the World main page
Photographic essay (HW's photos of the Lynmouth Flood Disaster, and others)