Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries (Volume 2): 1938-43

Written by Chips Channon

Narrated by Tom Ward

Brought to you by Penguin.

The second volume of the remarkable, Sunday Times bestselling diaries of Chips Channon.

This second volume of the bestselling 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.

© Chips Channon 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cornerstone Digital
• Release date: Dec 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9781529190113

Reviews for Henry ‘Chips’ Channon

[fmclellan-29530 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dear CHIPS! A fantastic diarist, a jaw-dropping snob. He had a ringside seat to history. I didn't think I could follow this as an audiobook, but it turns out to be a splendid way of consuming these fascinating, irritating diaries.

[ponsonby_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This massive (1000+ pages) slice of Channon's diaries falls into two parts. Covering the years October 1938 to mid 1943, the division isn't so much between 'before WWII' and 'during WWII' as between the period while Channon was actively engaged in politics as PPS to Rab Butler, and the period afterwards, when the focus is much more on 'society' – not that Channon lacked that even when he was 'fagging for Butler'.
Reading the diaries is quite a marathon because it can easily seem an endless round of meals and similar events, often with similar casts of characters. How interesting those are will depend on the reader. But within the text there are many nuggets of insights, personal and political, which raise this work well above mere repetition.
Channon is open in his views about other people, other types of people, other races and so on. Much of it would today be 'politically incorrect', and even on a more daily level there are details which show how divorced his life was from the common herd – for example, how insignificant food rationing was to those who could afford to dine often in hotels, and especially those like Channon whose servants no doubt had their own sources of supply for the many delicacies that appeared on his table. In fact, clothes rationing gets more mention than food, but Channon is reasured that his own wardrobe is enormous. He can even kit out Field Marshall Wavell in civvies when that old soldier is appointed as Viceroy – an appointment Channon congratulates himself on arranging, although it is also clear from the book that Churchill had little time for Chips so there may have been other factors in play.
This section of the diaries also shows up Channon's high-intesnity approach to frendships – he does much for his friends but often gets fed up with them or on occasion turns into their enemy, spreading malicious rumours everywhere – a trait he deplores in others.
The distintegration of Channon's marriage to the ill-named Lady Honor is catalogued in detail; we are left in no doubt that it is all her fault. Channon's own many amours, mostly with men, are not presented as relevant to the situation. This is perhaps the one area of his life where Channon was perhaps in denial, compared with his self-awareness about his social attitudes.
Overall, this is compulsive reading for those who are interested. Those who are not probably gave up half way through Volume 1 in any case.