
‘M
ad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun’,
carolled composer, singer, playwright, performer,
author and inveterate traveller Noël Coward in his
trademark, widely recognised, over-the-top manner.
Coward’s forceful, showy and curious charisma bowled over many
people he encountered; some misguided ones even tried to emulate
him, usually with dismal results. Yet his memoirs reveal exhausted
soldiers and unresponsive ...