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Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries (Volume 2)
- 1938-43
- Narrated by: Tom Ward
- Length: 48 hrs and 28 mins
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Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries (Volume 2)
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Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
The second volume of the remarkable Sunday Times best-selling diaries of Chips Channon.
This second volume of the best-selling diaries of Henry 'Chips' Channon takes us from the heady aftermath of the Munich agreement, when the prime minister Chips so admired was credited with having averted a general European conflagration, through the rapid unravelling of appeasement, and on to the tribulations of the early years of the Second World War. It closes with a moment of hope, as Channon, in recording the fall of Mussolini in July 1943, reflects: 'The war must be more than half over.'
For much of this period, Channon is genuinely an eye-witness to unfolding events. He reassures Neville Chamberlain as he fights for his political life in May 1940. He chats to Winston Churchill while the two men inspect the bombed-out chamber of the House of Commons a few months later. From his desk at the Foreign Office, he charts the progress of the war. But with the departure of his boss 'Rab' Butler to the Ministry of Education, and Channon's subsequent exclusion from the corridors of power, his life changes - and with it the preoccupations and tone of the diaries. The conduct of the war remains a constant theme, but more personal preoccupations come increasingly to the fore. As he throws himself back into the pleasures of society, he records his encounters with the likes of Noël Coward, Prince Philip, General de Gaulle and Oscar Wilde's erstwhile lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. He describes dinners with members of European royal dynasties and recounts gossip and scandal about the great, the good and the less good. And he charts the implosion of his marriage and his burgeoning, passionate friendship with a young officer on Wavell's staff.
These are diaries that bring a whole epoch vividly to life.
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What listeners say about Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries (Volume 2)
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Philip Moore
- 16-01-22
Wonderfully enthralling and yet painfully snobbish
I knew very little about Chips Channon, but this volume has opened my eyes. It is gossipy, snobbish, and with a very human insight into some of the great figures of the Second World War. It is amazing how he can - justifiably - moan about his wife, her affairs, and wanting his married life back, and at the same time he dreams of a life with his boyfriend. It really takes the concept of a Double Life to absurd extremes. It also shows how homosexuality was so common, so tacitly acknowledged amongst the upper and aristocratic classes, and yet it remained so socially unmentionable. But just as I occasionally felt sympathy for him, he dashes that sympathy away. He moans - rightly - about Churchill spending money on frivolous things, and yet he thinks nothing of smuggling in presents for his friends via the Diplomatic Bag, presumably to avoid the tax. I am enthralled but know I would find him a ghastly person to know, and he would not deign to talk to me. Worth listening to/reading.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- m. webster
- 18-01-22
Truthful diaries, how unusual
Due to the brutal truth, Chips does not come across as likeable. However he gives a blow by blow account of the political manoeuvring in theHouse of Commons during war time. Although the catalogue of dining made one wonder if there was a war on. No rationing for the MPs and upper classes.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- joan smith
- 02-01-22
Very Enjoyable
Very well read and really interesting. A lot of inside fascinating stories. Looking forward to the next volume.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Honest reader
- 09-09-23
A very particular lens on history
Channon continues to obsess over class, wealth, privilege and power as only a real arriviste such as he is can do. His hypocrisy grows as he continually fails to grasp how he has backed the wrong horse in every area of political and societal life. That said, his insights into the people he comes into contact with and their personalities, are insightful and have credibility given his close proximity to these people and the events of their time. Only superficially shocking, only a fool would think the revelations about people’s complex personalities are a surprise. His insight into some of the behind the scenes political machinations of power during WW2 are sometimes genuinely new. And the portraits of figures like General Wavell are fascinating. His personal sensibilities and indeed his great romance show almost contradictory sides to a peculiar but interesting figure.
I’ve seen another review that implies it’s an insight into how awful ‘the great and the good’ are. I don’t agree at all. It simply shows that people at all levels are human, but he diarists key strength I think, is that he can see the best and the worst of a person at once.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- mrs p anderson
- 13-08-23
Totally addictive...I'm.loading volume 3 now.
A treasure trove of history and gossip about the social and political elites..not all bores!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- H20
- 18-06-23
repetative and engaging
Engrossed in life in ww2 not disimaler to Boris and current 2022 conservative party, I would reduce all parliament privileges, and royal
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 08-05-23
Fascinating
A compulsive listen. Don’t expect to admire everyone who appears in this diary, but you be amazed by much of what you here.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Alison
- 28-04-23
Addictive listening ... to a fairly awful man!
I love diaries, and long books, and anything about the period of British history from the 1920s to the 1950s. So given that this is all of this, it was bound to be a good choice for me.
I have now listened to Vs 1 & 2, and have V3 ready to go.
For me the narration was perfect, with the style growing and maturing as the author altered and matured. Very clever.
The diaries are a lovely, gossipy mix of social and political intrigue. They cast a new light on many events - momentous and trivial, with insights - albeit very biased - into events such as the abdication crisis, and the onset of WW2.
So far so good. However, he really was a flawed and often repellent man. An appeaser, based on his fascistic sympathies, rather than on the grounds of loving peace, he was ultra right-wing, and a terrible snob. His views on Jews in particular, are vile, and would have been then, let alone now.
Nevertheless, at times I felt sympathy for him. Despite achieving wealth and position due to his energetic social climbing, he really never seems happy. Maybe, because he was originally American, he realised that he would never really be a member of the British aristocracy, which he revered, even worshiped.
I was interested in his own sexuality, and his views on that of others. As ever with Channon, this was two-faced. He was I think, bisexual, and had relations with women and men (the latter more often, I think); and yet he denigrates others especially women, if he suspected or knew them to be lesbians.
His sly, gossipy style is, as I said in the title of this review, addictive. And I am sure we would have absolutely despised one another, for which I am glad as no matter how insightful these volumes are, he was a horrible man. The only thing I really liked about him, personally, was that he seems to have loved dogs!
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Andrew N Calder
- 30-03-23
48 Hours ?
This volume and the other two could and should be condensed into thirty minutes at most. The content is woefully lacking. I could summarise the whole saga as :-
'Woke up late, hungover, dreadful champagne at Maureen's. Left whatever his name was in bed. Went to HoC, had to walk as must have shagged chauffeur too much last night. Voted on matter of extreme importance to the nation and empire. Lunched with dear, dear,Johnnie at the Atheneum. Food bad, only the plebs should eat that, I'm too, too du monde for that!
Had to chuck dinner with Queen Mother, so declassee has she become. Darling Duchess of K intervened just in time. How i love her so, I might even give her one, were I not such a raging queen!! So to bed, but couched in terms such as not to be arrested; well I'm du monde n'est ce pas and I use the past tense of the verb reussir at least every five minutes !!
Why have I not been Knighted??
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mr. H
- 26-01-23
Brilliant reading, fascinating text
Channon is gloriously acid, snobbish, camp, often wrong but also immensely charming and often moving in his diary entries.
I recommend it not least because it's perfectly read by Ward. Everything about the reading is sheer perfection; the voice, the intonation, the pace; the lot.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MG
- 09-03-22
Narrator
Chips was, of course, born and raised in Chicago so I highly doubt he spoke with a "full blown" British accent. However, a great deal of the charm this audio book emotes comes from the narrator's snippy, pompous, and thoroughly acerbic British accent and intonations. I found myself giggling and chuckling quite often - even relistening to certainpassages because they were so brilliantly and hilariously written and performed. If Chips didn't speak exactly as the narrator does , he should have. I loved, loved, loved it!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Last Lemming
- 02-08-22
Just the best narrator
Good books can be killed by a bad narrator. This narrator does Chandon’s diaries’ prose such excellent service that it is hard to imagine these words w/o this voice. Extra kudos for the occasional Churchill quote done in Churchill’s gravely baritone. All first rate.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sweet Lady
- 24-07-22
Fascinating!
I have to admit - I did not like Chips Channon. He’s the ultimate snob: only interested in the rich and royalty. And his whole life is just an unending series of parties in high society. And his treatment of people he hated - including his mother - was just brutal. But….the diary entries are so fascinating! Chips seemed to be in the middle of historical events as well as delighted in dishing all the gossip. His judgment was lacking (liked the Nazis at first), but his diary entries provide information about wartime London from someone who lived there through the war. I listened to volume 1 and 2 and look forward to volume 3. This is a fascinating life story of a man who lived a life that was ultimately shallow but yet full of historical importance because Chips was a superb diarist.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- D2Zen
- 20-06-22
Channon in the Midst of WWII England
Amazing 48 hours of listening to the often (unintentionally) hilarious Chips Channon diary entries, read in theatrically plummy tones.
Politics, society, royalty, aristo hijinks — all seen through the lens of a privileged, social-clawing narcissist. It’s utterly brilliant.
Plus, I laughed aloud so many times, at Channon’s days and observations.
Definitely not mainstream, and a delicious pleasure.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kharol S. Means
- 30-05-22
Amazing
What a walk through history. I can hardly wait until the third volume is out!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 04-04-22
Riveting book, brilliantly narrated
I can not recommend enough this second Vol of Chip’s diaries. As fascinating as Vol 1, which you must listen to first, their narrator perfection and I say this as a harsh critic of narrators. Chip’s fly on the wall account of politics, society, gossip and innuendo are up there with Pepys’. I count the days till Audible release Vol 3.
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