Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries (Volume 2)

1938-43

By: Chips Channon

Narrated by: Tom Ward

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.

©2021 Chips Channon (P)2021 Penguin Audio

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.

Amazing

What a walk through history. I can hardly wait until the third volume is out!

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.

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!

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.

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.