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Evelyn Waugh's irresistible first novel (New York Times) is a brilliant and hilarious satire of English school life in the 1920s.

Evelyn Waugh's debut novel, Decline and Fall, is a biting satire that lampoons British society of the 1920s with razor-sharp wit and dark humor. The story follows the misadventures of Paul Pennyfeather, a hapless theology student at Oxford who finds himself expelled from... Read Full Overview

Evelyn Waugh's literary brilliance shines in this satirical masterpiece, Decline and Fall. Set against the backdrop of 1920s England, the novel follows the misadventures of Paul Pennyfeather, an unsuspecting protagonist entangled in a world of eccentric characters and absurd... Read Full Overview

Paul Pennyfeather is a naive and innocent student at Oxford, who is expelled for a prank he did not commit. He becomes a teacher at a dismal school in Wales, where he meets the eccentric staff and the seductive Mrs. Beste-Chetwynde. He falls in love with her and follows her to... Read Full Overview

Subtitled "A Novel of Many Manners, " Evelyn Waugh's notorious first novel lays waste the "heathen idol" of British sportsmanship, the cultured perfection of Oxford, and the inviolable honor codes of the English gentleman.

Evelyn Waugh's "irresistible" first novel ( New York Times ) is a brilliant and hilarious satire of English school life in the 1920s. Sent down from Oxford after a wild, drunken party, Paul Pennyfeather is oddly surprised to find himself qualifying for the position of schoolmaster... Read Full Overview

'His first, most perfect novel ... ruthlessly comic' John Mortimer, Guardian

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) Decline and Fall (1928) was Evelyn Waugh's immensely successful first novel, and it displays not only all of its author's customary satiric genius and flair for unearthing the ridiculous in human nature, but also a youthful willingness to train... Read Full Overview

Decline and Fall is based, in part, on Waugh's schooldays at Lancing College, undergraduate years at Hertford College, Oxford, and his experience as a teacher at Arnold House in north Wales.

Modest and unassuming theology student Paul Pennyfeather falls victim to the... Read Full Overview

2024 Reprint of the 1947 Edition. Decline and Fall is Waugh's first novel published in 1928. It is based, in part, on Waugh's schooldays at Lancing College, undergraduate years at Hertford College, Oxford, and his experience as a teacher at Arnold House in north Wales. It... Read Full Overview