Rebecca West

21 December 1892 - 15 March 1983

Rebecca West rose to fame early (before the First World War) through her witty, acerbic journalism. In addition to numerous essays and reviews, she wrote about a dozen novels, short stories, political analyses, a classic travel book, and works of literary criticism. Her journalism remains an important commentary on the contemporary women's movement, offering both strong intellectual support and trenchant satire. She is known for her pungency of phrase; on occasion she was more eager for a phrase to strike shockingly home than for it to withstand criticism.

Milestones

21 December 1892

Cicily Isabel Fairfield (later RW ) was born in London.

Rollyson, Carl. Rebecca West: A Saga of the Century. Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.

20 October 1941

RW published Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, her famous travel book about the Balkans.

Hutchinson, G. Evelyn. A Preliminary List of the Writings of Rebecca West, 1912-1951. Yale University Library, 1957.

12-13

February 1982

RW published 1900, an informal historical account of the year, emphasising politics and the arts.

British Books in Print. J. Whitaker and Sons, 1987.

1982

West, Rebecca. 1900. Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1982.

15 March 1983

RW died of pneumonia at her home, 48 Kingston House North, at the edge of Hyde Park, at the age of ninety.

Hammond, John Richard. H. G. Wells and Rebecca West. Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1991.

240

Rollyson, Carl. Rebecca West: A Saga of the Century. Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.

321, 375

Matthew, Henry Colin Gray, Brian Harrison, and Lawrence Goldman, editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Biography

Birth and Family

21 December 1892

Cicily Isabel Fairfield (later RW ) was born in London.

Rollyson, Carl. Rebecca West: A Saga of the Century. Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.