Evelyn Waugh was not only a great English author, but he also represented a generation and a time which was in transition in England and changed the makeup of the nation forever. Waugh was born into a comfortable family in London in 1903 to his mother Catherine and his father Arthur. His father was a literary critic and publisher so from the beginning he was exposed to writers, style, criticism, and what the world of literature was all about. His relationship with his father was not particularly strong. He was sent to Lancing College in Sussex and then to Hertford College in Oxford. He studied modern history but began to write. His brother Alec was involved in a homosexual affair while attending Shelbourne College and was dismissed for it when he was caught. Evelyn was bullied by classmates as he was growing up and by the time he was nearing graduation he had found solace and comfort in drinking. Waugh took a position in a London Art school after graduation but did not stay long and quickly moved to a position as a schoolmaster  in North Wales. This may have served as his inspiration for his novel Unconditional Surrender. He did not stay there long, deciding to commit himself entirely to writing. Waugh had contemplated suicide earlier on but stopped at the last minute. His first book was titled Rossetti and was published in 1928. It was meet with marginal reviews but his second work that year, 'Decline and Fall' was enthusiastically accepted and his reputation was established. It was thought by critics at the time that Waugh was the next great writer in the tradition of Shaw and Wilde. He followed up with 'Vile Bodies' in 1930 which was an enormous success. In 1932 he published 'Black Mischief and the 'A Handful of Dust'. Although his books generally ended on a happy note, his personal life was a string of unhappy events. He had fallen in love with Diana Guinness, who was to later marry Mosley, the Neo-nazi leader of Britain's fascist movement. His marriage had fallen apart and he himself was in search of a faith.

In 1930 Waugh officially converted to Roman Catholicism which was to become one of the enduring themes of his works - especially Brideshead Revisited. He decided to travel and work as a foreign correspondent and covered the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1936. In 1937 he married again and he and his wife Laura had 6 children. His career and success as a writer allowed him to gain access to the world of upper class England and develop many relationships with the people that moved in that circle.

He used these experiences and relationships as material and people for his novels. In 1944 he joined one of his friends, Randolph Churchill in a military mission in Yugoslavia where he was injured and then returned to England. It was at this point, while recovering, that he began work on 'Brideshead Revisited'. Waugh examines the British Upper class and it's intercourse with itself and with an outsider- Charles the main charter of the work. the theme of Catholicism permeates the entire work and becomes the concluding statement as many of the characters come to terms with their relationship with their faith.

This is also a story of a changing world, a changing England. Waugh seems to be able to anticipate the restructuring of the English class structure as initiated by Clement Attlee after the second world war. This was a fast fading England of Upper Class brilliance that was to disappear forever with the advent of socialism and social-democracy. Waugh spent most of his time after the war in Somerset displaying his unique fashion sense and working on his major work, a trilogy known as 'Sword of Honour'. He uses his experience in Yugoslavia in the work and ends up in the lap of his family after the war.

In 1947 he was offered an opportunity to turn Brideshead revisited into a Hollywood movie but rejected the attempts to rewrite the book and the movie was not made. Waugh published a biography of his friend Father Know in 1959 and 'The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold' in 1957. He continued writing but on April 10th, 1966 he collapsed and died. Brideshead Revisited was made into a major miniseries in 1981, which achieved a huge success upon broadcast on television.

Waugh will remain an icon and representative of a period of English culture and history which saw great transition and change. His books remain as enjoyable and entertaining as they were when published.