“If Nelson, Wellington, and Pitt
Came back again to do their bit
These gentlemen would still know more
About the conduct of the war.”
Less Nonsense is a collection of comical topical verses, covering events during the war years, 1942 and 1943.
Not all the poems concern politics and the war; Crossing the Road is a solemn warning of the dangers we face from oncoming traffic – we had much better stay safely at home, he advises: “For vehicles, at any speed, May hurt you very much indeed; And, I'm afraid, the chances are, You will not hurt the motor-car”.
A.P. Herbert (1890 – 1971) was an independent MP, and a humorist, novelist, playwright and poet known as “the wittiest man of his time”.
As an MP, he took up many causes of social reform, including a successful campaign against a wartime tax on the sale of books during the Second World War.
Published by Methuen in 1944.
Good condition with dustjacket. Binding intact.