Fathers and Sons: The Autobiography of a Family

When Arthur Waugh won the Newdigate Prize for poetry in 1888, he broke with the family tradition of working in medicine, but created a new trade for the Waughs that continues to today: writing. His two sons, Alec and Evelyn, both followed in his profession and, like so many other sons, faced accusations of preference because of who their father was. Their sibling rivalry was formed by Arthur's clear favouritism towards Alec, but Evelyn emerged to become one of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century.

Evelyn's son Auberon also struggled to emerge from his father's shadow, and developed a career as one of Britain's best-loved and most original columnists. Now his son, Alexander, has taken up the baton. This is the story of four generations of a brilliant family, all of whom have written about their relationships with their fathers and sons. It is also a book that reveals much about the nature of how any family copes with its own rivalry.